I came across Kate Phillips article on “Why Entrepreneurs Rule the World”, and I wanted to share it with you in parting. It’s a little long (but not any longer than some of mine 🙂 ), but well worth a read. An excerpt:
Once upon a time… the world was full of small business people and independent entrepreneurs. Every town had a butcher, a baker, and a candlestick maker. A blacksmith, a barber, and a farmer (or two). A shepherd, a weaver, and a preacher. There were no factories, no corporations, and… no employees.
…
One thing is clear to me: no matter what rung of the ladder you are on, jobs are going out of style. Fast.
For years now, the trend has been away from hiring employees and towards hiring independent contractors. Why? Huge savings in benefits, also huge savings in waste. Rather than paying for people’s time, contracts allow employers to pay for the *result* they want. Deliver this, we’ll pay you “X.”
…We’ve put our faith and trust in the wrong places, counting on an employer or a company to sustain us, when we should have been developing our own value in the market place. We can no longer count on jobs to sustain us, rescue us, or bail us out. Employers are doing their best to keep their own head above water, do not count on them to rescue you.
In case you didn’t get the memo: Jobs are Dead.
…Two years ago I attended an orientation at my daughter’s high school. One teacher spoke about “how we’re going to help your children prepare for the job market.” They would learn to write resumes and cover letters, fill out applications and interview for jobs.
I inquired afterwards what was being done to prepare kids for a world in which jobs are going away. What do the kids learn about businesses? About self-employment options? Is there a class teaching entrepreneurial skills? Could I volunteer in such a class?
You could well imagine the response from the teachers. Of course, no one has trained them to think this way either. We’ve all been brainwashed into believing that there is a job “out there”. There are opportunities “out there”. However, it is up to each of us to take ahold of our destinies and our lives and move on in a new economy.
It is not an economy of our own making. However, opportunities rarely are of one’s own making. Rather, opportunities present themselves and we either jump on them or let them pass on by.
Me? I’m moving!
Random Acts of IT Project Management 