As much as I like writing about passion and paychecks, I believe there is a real social dilemma we are not speaking about. Knowing I view all questions through the lens of positive psychology, and the belief that all human problems have human solutions, let me know if you know the answer (or a good proposal) for these questions:
- If the next generation of people choose to become self-employed at a greater level than any other generation, who pays into the current social safety net?
- Will social security – and roads, schools, fire, and police (to name a few) have funding?
- If more people are self-employed and are gig workers, what happens if another 2020 occurs? Will there be unemployment insurance to help them through the economic downturn?
- How will medical insurance be provided?
- Will they ever have time off or have the money to take a vacation?
Once again, I appreciated the cover article of the May-June 2022 HBR, “Designing Work that People Love”. The author, Marcus Buckingham, has researched and taught thousands about the value of knowing your strengths and using them. However, the article’s focus is on large organizations designing work for people. What I am seeing, particularly in the 20–30-year-olds, is a generation of next-gen workers wanting to work for themselves. I am hearing less about autonomy at work as I am hearing about freedom not to work for a large company.
The butterfly of social change has been flapping its wings since the dawn of man. I like change. I like how one change precipitates many changes. It is intriguing to me to learn after the fact how a change impacted an area no one ever expected.
My objective here is not to pontificate about what I think. Instead, I want to invite those who are interested in the topic to join me in conversation on Zoom on Tuesday, June 7, at 2:30 pm PST. If you would like to be included in the conversation, please write me at, please DM me on LinkedIn by June 4.
