A creative change in employment trends

The title of this blog may be all about customer service, but as a savvy capitalist, my interests - and those of many of my readers, I've found - stretches beyond one narrow field to business, economics, and social trends in more general terms as well.

If that's you, please read on.

Today's New York Times ran a great article on teenagers coming into the job market in troubled times: what are they to do? How does a 14-year-old compete for a job with a 40-year-old? Hopefully (says me, the 42-year-old), the elder of the two has picked up some job skills the employer will find useful, and that will help her win the position.

So what are a lot of kids doing? They're adapting. Welcome to America, welcome to capitalism; welcome to life. I love it!

An excerpt (bold added):

In addition to the money they are earning, teenagers say entrepreneurship has made them more mature. Max O’Dell said he could now relate when his father talked about his own work, and Ms. Borden said she has learned how to speak to adults as an adult. “I feel like this experience is getting me ready for the real world,” she said.

Today, 80% of us work for small businesses. The notion of lifetime employment is a 1950's construct most of us think of as quaint, but not realistic. Indeed, the average American will engage in three to six different careers, not just jobs!

My guess is, this just may describe you. Am I close?

I see a future where it is much more commonplace for people to do as I have done, experiencing a wide variety of employment experiences, from contractor to independent operator to employee to business owner and back to employee almost seamlessly. Why not? Entrepreneurialism isn't nearly as unique or "different" as many of us were led to believe by educators, family, and the media.

After all, what is a small farmer other than a small business owner? And 120 years ago, wasn't the family farm still the number one source of income for most Americans? For all the change our society has undergone in the past century or two, maybe the model we've come to see as "normal" - getting a good job with a big company; lifetime employment with same - maybe that was a brief historical aberration, and nothing more.

Time will tell, won't it?

For the entire article, which I highly recommend: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/28/jobs/28teens.html?_r=1&8dpc