I recently dedicated a couple of posts sharing my opinions about the changes that I think are beginning to take place in the workforce. Central to my argument was the movement of the workforce from permanent full-time staff towards something that resembles a fluid blanket of freelancers who operate as their own unique small businesses. The New York Times highlights this change with an article on how graduates, unable to find jobs, are beginning to run their own web-enabled businesses like Koombea (whose founder, Ryan Kuder, is pictured here):
Plenty of other laid-off workers across the country, burned out by a merciless job market, are building business plans instead of sending out résumés. For these people, recession has become the mother of invention.
Economists say that when the economy takes a dive, it is common for people to turn to their inner entrepreneur to try to make their own work. But they say that it takes months for that mentality to sink in, and that this is about the time in the economic cycle when it really starts to happen — when the formerly employed realize that traditional job searches are not working, and that they are running out of time and money…
Economists say there are some peculiarities to this wave of downturn start-ups. Chiefly, the Internet has given people an extraordinary tool not just to market their ideas but also to find business partners and suppliers, and to do all kinds of functions on the cheap: keeping the books, interacting with customers, even turning a small idea into a big idea.
The goal for many entrepreneurs nowadays is not to create a company that will someday make billions but to come up with an idea that will produce revenue quickly, said Jerome S. Engel, director for the center for entrepreneurship at the Berkeley Haas School of Business. Mr. Engel said many people will focus on serving immediate needs for individuals and businesses. “It’s a very painful thing,” he said of the pressure people feel to find new ways to make money. “But it’s a healthy thing.”
NY Times: Weary of Looking for Work, Some Create Their Own
PSFK: Young Adults Naive About Their Working Future
PSFK: Bad Advice – Get A Job
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