Laid Off: 30% of Those Are Middle Managers (new era of entrepreneurship kicking off?)
Right now, middle management is among the most vulnerable spots in terms of the possibility of being laid off. Bloomberg documents that in this era of extreme efficiency 30% of those on the chopping block have been middle managers. If you're "overseeing" projects or people you are probably being sized up as not directly creating value.
Boomers know this is not new in the history of labor in America. Paternalistic Corporate America turned lean and mean during the late 1980s. Disruptor CEOs such as GE's Jack Welch and Chrysler's Lee Iacocca set off that war on middle management. A whole generation of middle-aged professionals got the boot. I was among them. The corporate structure was hollowed out and left standing were the profit-generating units in which workers did, not oversee.
So what will happen to all the middle managers purged from middle-class employment? Back 30 years ago many of us became accidental entrepreneurs. Staples, which introduced the new category of office supplies for small business, was our hero.
Currently that kind of development could again take off. In coaching I am finding that the majority of clients want to be self-employed. They have had it with the extreme demands of what the workplace has turned into. Employers have the upper hand and workers feel increasingly powerless. If employees have a beef, I warn them: HR is not your friend. HR represents the business.
Making a living in the near future will probably be a mix. The parts could include a part-time day job, gigs and self-employment. That will require a portfolio of skills which continually has to be brought up to date. Already those hiring for myriad kinds of work mandate having advanced knowledge of generative AI.
2024. You can transform the craziness of this time into unique
opportunity. Jane Genova provides you with intuitive career coaching, Tarot
readings and related communications. Complimentary confidential consultation.
(For appointment text/phone 203-468-8579 or email janegenova374@gmail.com)
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