The cover article on BusinessWeek Magazine (issue 1/18) focuses on the current and future state of the workforce in the US. An excerpt from “The Disposable Worker”
….. this recession’s unusual ferocity has accelerated trends—including offshoring, automation, the decline of labor unions’ influence, new management techniques, and regulatory changes—that already had been eroding workers’ economic standing.
The forecast for the next five to 10 years: more of the same, with paltry pay gains, worsening working conditions, and little job security. Right on up to the C-suite, more jobs will be freelance and temporary, and even seemingly permanent positions will be at greater risk. “When I hear people talk about temp vs. permanent jobs, I laugh,” says Barry Asin, chief analyst at the Los Altos (Calif.) labor-analysis firm Staffing Industry Analysts. “The idea that any job is permanent has been well proven not to be true.” As Kelly Services CEO Carl Camden puts it: “We’re all temps now.”
Wow, when you read that who the heck wants to work for any company. Do yourself a favor and read the entire article it’s chalk full of insight and realities that are bound to slap you between the eyes if your dreaming of working for one company until you retire.
So why is this good news?
The Future Is All About You The Entrepreneur
Folks this is a message that you must not ignore. There has never been a better time to be an entrepreneur than now. The worlds most powerful business tool, the Internet, has allowed so many playing fields to be leveled, even destroyed, that today you can start and launch a successful business with very little capital.
Everyone’s an Entrepreneur – Sooner or Later
If you follow my Twitter stream you know that almost daily I send out encouragement that “Everyone’s and Entrepreneur” followed by hints, ideas or comments to inspire. While it’s a way of pushing you forward let me be a little more hard hitting here. This is only one of several articles that point to the future workplace changing so drastically that you will be forced to become an entrepreneur, like it or not. You can call it a temp, like they have in the article, but the bottom line is you will need to think, act and create your income in the same way an entrepreneur does.
Time To Get Started and Think Like A Child
Don’t let any of this stress you out or even worry you. The great news is you control the direction and the opportunities are abound. My suggestion is this. Start thinking about something you like doing, one or two things that really interest you. Then take those ideas and brainstorm ways in which you could make a business out of them, think like a child. Perhaps you like exactly what you are doing now, however it’s working for a company. No problem continue on that path and consider developing something in parallel, just in case.
How about you, are you making plans to be an entrepreneur and start your own company?
In the coming months I’m going to cover this topic more in depth and release the first free ebook based on a series Everyone’s an Entrepreneur. Sign up for my FREE newsletter on my homepage and be among the first to receive it.