The American Dream: Mind-Numbing Office Jobs For Everyone
In a discussion with a mentor of mine who is well into their 50's (small business owner) we came to the conclusion that the baby boomer business "gold rush" of the last 20-30 years has resulted in maybe too many publicly owned companies, large corporations, and ivory-tower offices where the next generation is coming in to be another cog in the wheel to keep the monster of a machine moving. And 99% of the corporate or big business work-force complains about the situation, but settles and still buys a vinyl-village home, adds a dog to the family, pops out some hell-raising kids, divorces a few years later (bad day at work results in bad day at home, multiply the effect over several years, and you have a reason for 50-60% national divorce rates), re-marries, retires, and looks back on a life of climbing the corporate ladder and not really leaving much of a mark.
Dating all the way back to the industrial revolution, as more and more businesses selling products to consumers grew the number of businesses selling products or services to other businesses grew. I personally think this shift from B2C to B2B oriented businesses is a major cause of the mundane aspect of most people's careers. Think about it: would you rather sell the car to an actual person or would you rather analyze the efficiency of the logistics used to transport a tire for the car that is being sold? For every B2C service or product sold there are truck loads of B2B services backing it up. And guess what? The number of B2B jobs outnumbers B2C jobs, and these jobs are getting more and more mundane, process-oriented, and outsourceable.
Just look at any job search that you submit on Monster, Jobster, or Careerbuilder. The results may go on for hundreds of pages if you are searching in a major metropolitan area, but they will be the most uninteresting positions unless you or new to the game or naive (college grads or corporate workhorse) or truly enjoy having an "8-5 5 days a week auto-drive position with the chance of moving up the ranks of middle management over a 40 year period" job. Logistics specialist, Sr. Analyst, Data Integrity Jr. Manager, etc. These all will result in hours of spreadsheet viewing, report writing, pointless meetings, and hours of boredom even if you are working. If you are a manger you are not running a business, you are improving processes. If you are an employee, you are acting out the role in that process. Exciting, right?
Add in all of the other wonderful aspects of the business world including pleasing the shareholders, acquiring businesses, being acquired, merged, outsourced, or eliminated and you are in for what may seem like a wild ride - but it really is only wild for the owners moving around the pieces on the chessboard to maximize their profits while you enjoy a 2-4% raise each year and continue serving your purpose.
So, what is the solution?
Well, we can't stop the pace of growth and operation in the "big business" world, but small business owners and entrepreneurs can take advantage of the situation. If you want to grow your personal or small business to be a lifestyle business for the rest of your career I salute you. That's an admirable move, and a dream of mine, as well. However, with the rate of business growth in the corporate and publicly-owned market, you have a good chance of being bought much sooner than in the past. Some business plans in the tech industry have exit strategies of less than 1-2 years. Bam, sell to some CEO of Boring Company, Inc who thinks that your company is a good fit for them whether you agree or not, take the cash, and do it again. Or retire.
Small businesses do not have much of chance competing with bigger businesses operating on volume and cost-cutting, so the best bet is to start the business with the goal of selling sooner rather than sticking around to fight for space in a market where the competitor has just outsourced what you do to someone who is paid just enough to feed themselves. Cost vs. Quality is unfortunately a mostly invalid argument these days if you want to stay in business. Very few succeed taking the side of quality as a long-term plan.
Small business is where the fire is still burning brightly in the owner's and employees' minds, and offers you the chance to have a more exciting and higher impact job. Not to mention, it's generally more lucrative at the cost of being riskier. From the beginning, I have recommended that college grads seek to work for smaller businesses or lesser known companies still with good reputations. Unfortunately, there is not a good resource that lists jobs in the more entrepreneurial sector. These are usually word-of-mouth or opportunities that result from networking. Well, most college students do not have many professional contacts, so professional networking and word-of-mouth opportunities are hard to come by. This is another flaw in the system as college grads are being funneled into the corporate world simply because opportunities with smaller businesses are not widely available.
This is pretty much where we both paused for awhile, continued eating, and shook our heads. I wanted to say, "What a mess", but was beaten to the punch by the old guy on the other side of the table who broke the silence by saying something to the effect of, "There is still hope in the business world, but it is far and few between in corporate America. There are still diamonds in the rough - large, publicly owned companies that still act like rebels similar to when they started, but they're hard to find and it could change in an instant. Many companies claim to be different, but many of them are really the same."
