Listening to CKNW a few days ago, I was excited when Bruce Allen came on to do his ‘Reality Check.’ For a change, however, he did not provide me with any insight or present anything that I have not already heard (repeatedly). To summarize, he talked about how my generation, those currently in school, are going to have a much more difficult time finding work than any prior generation. An increase in the quality of healthcare along with other factors has contributed to members of the aging population staying in the workforce longer. Refusing to retire and possessing experience far beyond what the keen business student may obtain in their several years of college or university, the ‘Baby Boomers’ present an enormous obstacle to the younger generation in finding careers. This leaves college and university graduates battling over such positions as barista or waiter/waitress.
If these allegations are, in fact, true and unexaggerated and it is actually this difficult for the college or university graduate to find a career, to me, it only makes sense that the most appealing option would be to start a company or become self-employed. A rise in the number of people who are self-employed over the past few decades has demonstrated that this is an extremely viable way to build a career and earn a living. Furthermore, an increasing number of “rebels” such as marketing guru, Seth Godin, and ‘Go Daddy’ CEO, Bob Parsons, have gained significant popularity teaching aspiring businesspersons to go against the flow of society and innovate rather than strictly following what is learned in school.
Though business schools and other educational institutions have also begun to adopt such teachings, the first 13 years of every Canadian’s life still consists of learning to follow authority and fit into the current societal structure in order to eventually work as a subordinate in some form of bureaucracy. In general, are Canadians capable of overcoming these years of structure and conformity so that they may start a project of their own? Are Canadians too dependent upon security or do they lack the confidence to take on a bold new project upon which their livelihood depends?
The answers to these questions will also answer the question which is my main point: What does the future of self-employment look like for Canada? I feel all signs point to a continued increase in the rate of self-employment over the next decade or so, as more ‘Baby Boomers’ reach the traditional age of retirement and continue to work. What do you think?
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