While I think “Hopping off the corporate bandwagon” by Paul Glavic may over simplify the issue, he sheds some light on a common thread that many of my friends (and myself) have been feeling now for a while. We simply do not have the corporate ambitions of previous generations of Americans (just look at the subtitle of this blog and you’ll notice I’ve felt this urge for a while – “Ambition is the enemy of success”).
My best friend hopped off the corporate train years ago. My roommate just recently downshifted from 40-50 hours to about half that. Even my brother (who is very corporately driven) turned down a HUGE promotion years ago because it would involve excessive travel and his quality of life would suffer.
I would consider myself someone who genuinely enjoys my job right now, however I would consider a 4 day work week (with full benefits), earning 20% less a very attractive proposition…
If government run healthcare were to ever take off here in the US (and I’m quite torn on whether or not I think that would be a good thing) , I would expect that a number of people miserable in their careers would drop them and choose to simplify their life while working 20-30 hours in a coffee shop or bookstore… Something to think about.
That’s a really fascinating idea – I’d never considered how many folks might be in certain jobs just because of the benefits. And imaging how much of retirement savings is for elderly health care coverage? That stuff gets mighty expensive when a) your company isn’t paying for it anymore and b) cross 40 years old.
Valerie also wondered whether more people would start their own businesses. It’s easier to afford more empeloyees if you don’t have to cover health care, so small businesses could afford to grow more easily, in theory.
I’m not in my job for the benefits, but it would be interesting to see how companies compete for employees when they can’t say, “and 100% medical” anymore.
I agree with Valarie, but is it a great thing to have lots of people starting their own business (especially if it is just bringing out all the people who didn’t have the gumption to do it today)? Is building in that safety net a good thing for the economy or not?
No question that it lowers the bar needed for someone to start the business, so I would imagine anyone with any off the wall idea would try to start their own – with no real concern for the success of it.
When/if socialized medicine shows up, the revenue needed to make a business profitable drops, so the true force of a capitalistic market never really gets to take hold.
Many people would start their own business for a bit of “bonus” income (like many web designers are doing on a freelance basis today), not something they are really putting any effort into to turn into a great success (or a business that would create jobs for others).