90 Million Americans are no longer looking for a job
This chart shows labour participation. There is no sign of any change. The job is not coming back.
We are starting to understand why this is not just a "normal" recession. It is structural. A global workforce pushes labour costs down. The shoe maker in Maine competes with the labour pool in China. The lawyer in New York competes with the lawyer in Mumbai. It is also about technology. The lawyer in Mumbai competes with software that offers you and I the simple contract. IBM are developing software that will give you a better diagnosis than your doctor. No one in the job world is safe.
So what to do? My advice is to stop making getting a job or keeping yours the only focus. Don't over invest in getting the credential for the job.
There is another mindset and another world of work out there that is not at risk the way that the job is. It is a world that offers you great freedom and health too.
It is the world of the network and skilled person doing something personal in this network.
You Don't Need a Job is a survival manual for our time.
It is the first of a series that explores the real new economy that is based on the network. You Don't Need a Banker to Get Credit explores crowd sourcing and the new credit system that relies on your social world too. My latest book, You Don't Need Medicine to get Healthy - shows how to take charge of your health. One of the most powerful forces of illness is the loss of control that we get from having a job!
I am just starting on You Don't Need a School to get and Education - I hope you can see the pattern. The network will replace the institution. The job is at the centre of the institution.
I hope that I can help you.
