Everyone worries about job security in a world of changing industries and technologies. Manufacturing, medicine, journalism — you name it and someone is concerned about what is evolving and whether it means they should be updating their resume.
So when does Pennsylvania’s favorite rodent have to start updating his LinkedIn profile?
If he wants to keep his cushy gig, he might have to start working a little more often, or at least getting up a little earlier because winter’s not lasting as long as it did years ago.
According to NASA, spring is coming earlier. The agency has monitored the first leaves and first blooms in 276 national parks. In more than half of them, spring isn’t just coming sooner. It’s noted as “extreme,” with recent springs the earliest in 112 years.
National Geographic, in turn, says those plants that bloom early aren’t living longer. They’re dying sooner, using up water, leaving less moisture in the ground for summer and fall plants and little changes lead to bigger ones.
Phil’s not just going to have to show up at the office. He’s going to have to be more accurate. Despite those ever-earlier springs, the groundhog clearly just wants to hit the snooze button and go back to bed since he’s only copped to warming weather 18 times in 122 years. Come on, buddy, that’s just lazy.
And sure, it’s hard to predict the weather for the whole country from a hole in the ground in Jefferson County, but Live Science reported Phil’s predictions closer to home to be right just 39 percent of the time. Yikes.
So it seems maybe Phil could use some job training to keep up as the climate changes. But hey, don’t worry. Bill Murray did the same thing in the movie “Groundhog Day.” He learned to play the piano, taught himself French and realized that doing the same thing over and over just gives you the same result.
Now, a groundhog can’t really do anything about climate change. Heck, some people argue they aren’t even that skilled at meteorology. But he could be more clear about the results — namely that it’s highly unlikely that spring is going to actually come at the end of March every year, regardless of when the vernal equinox is on the calendar.
Maybe Phil could consider this his annual review, like a sit-down with management to review goals and performance. It might be time to move in a new direction.
