[This article originally appeared in the March 2012 issue of Madison Magazine]
How long have you had your current job?
A year? Two years? Five? Ten?
In the U.S. today, the average worker’s tenure in their current job is 4.4 years. You read that right; there’s a dot between the fours. Most American women will have 10.7 jobs in their careers; men will have 11.4.
In contrast, when my dad retired from the West Bend Company in 1989, he’d worked there for 33 years. You read that right; there is no dot between the threes.
Yup, a lot has changed between Dad’s economy and mine. People who study such things would say that my dad had a “long job,” and America’s current workforce experiences “short jobs” or “gigs.”
What’s interesting is how many institutions—government, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, health insurance companies and others—just don’t get it.
When Marti and I visited the White House last year (and by “visit” I mean we had our picture taken in front of it), we saw four huge posters hanging off the front of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce building that, ironically, faces the White House. The four posters had one letter on each of them and spelled J-O-B-S.
No doubt, the U.S. Chamber is playing on Americans’ longing for long jobs. But their call for J-O-B-S hides the truth: the U.S. Chamber’s members—like many American employers—don’t support long jobs anymore. They lay off millions during each recession, rely increasingly on part-timers, independent contractors and consultants, and, in many ways, prefer short-term employees. Even their CEOs have short shelf lives.
Long jobs have been gone for a long time. But it’s not just tenure that’s changed; the workforce has changed, too. Our next generation of American workers may prefer the financial security of a long job, but they also relish the variety that our current “gig economy” offers.
Take Marti as one example. When we met in 2004, she was juggling five gigs: slinging coffee at EVP, teaching classes at MATC and UW, helping Phil Porter with his art and doing consulting for small businesses. She wasn’t aching for a long job; she was recuperating from them. She’d had several long jobs in the insurance industry. The money and security were nice, but they zapped her curiosity and trampled her individuality. She prefers the gig economy.
But it’s not just Gen Xers and Millennials who work in the gig economy. Increasingly, Baby Boomers (born 1946– 1964) are, too.
Last year, the first Boomer turned 65, and as they face retirement, they’re not pointing their Cadillacs toward Sun City. They’re working longer.
An AARP survey of people turning 65 reported in 2011 that 46 percent are employed full or part time. And many of them want to work until they fall over.
That doesn’t mean they want to work full-time. Indeed, Boomers are a main driver of the gig economy. My friend Jan recently took a short-term position with a prominent local nonprofit; it’s the perfect gig—she gets to blend all of her amazing skills with a cause she’s passionate about.
And Madison will be better for it.
Baratunde Thurston is another member of the gig economy. He’s the digital director for The Onion, author of How to Be Black and works as a stand-up comedian. He’s not nostalgic for long jobs or the business models that underpin them.
Thurston says, “I was talking to some documentary filmmakers at a conference, and they all just talk about loss, the loss of a model. I can empathize. But I’m not upset that the model is dying. The milkman is dead, but we drink more milk than ever. Do we really want to return to a world of just three broadcast channels?”
And that’s the larger point. There’s a shitload of work to be done in this country. And it’s time for America to wake up, embrace the gig economy and those of us who piece it all together.
Comments
Nice article, but I think it answers the wrong question.
The past, current, and foreseeable future model of work is the soul-sucking top-down management structure from the 19th century (remember Scrooge & Cratchett, “suck up underling”).
That’s what the problem is and has been for centuries, and why burn-out is so common. It kills creativity and individualism.
However, do some research on Jack Stack, Ricardo Semler, and the Mondragon Corporation (from the Basque region of Spain). These are models that work, especially Mondragon’s.
America’s problem has been that its corporate leaders have been so resistant to change.
Even Germany has a policy of work-sharing; something Obama has included in his latest budget.
Gigs aren’t for everyone, especially in a tight economy.
Alex, great comment on Mondragon. This is actually the model we’re pursuing with my side project, LionInvesting.com. I wonder what you think about a guild for folks who prefer to be free agents, e.g. some companies are too small to KEEP a graphic designer on staff, but they would hire one from a guild or co-op?
Good on you. I first heard about Mondragon about ten years ago when I saw a piece on co-ops on the West Coast.
Guilds are a good idea as long as there is plenty of work for members. They were common back in the 19th century before corporations took over. Dimitra Doukas did a great job chronicling this in her book “Worked Over: The Corporate Sabotage of An American Community”.
Btw, some recent articles on Mondragon:
http://www.truth-out.org/cooperatives-over-corporations/1330091031?q=rag-radio-carl-davidson-mondragon-and-workers-cooperatives/1316526617
http://theragblog.blogspot.com/search?q=mondragon+diaries
The reason the “long job” is so desirable—and probably the ONLY reason—is because of the health benefits. Retirement benefits have been gone forever. Once we get a viable self-pay health benefit option, the long job myth will finally die.
Rebecca, right on target: the gig is the future. In my opinion, the long job in the U.S. was a historical fluke resulting from the economic powerhouse and monopoly of the U.S. - a result of the post WWII destruction of competing economies. Even though my parents and their peers had long jobs for most of their lives they also remembered the chaos of the 1930’s depression; the would tell my sisters and I all the time that work was a privledge not an entitlement. As part of that funny in-between boomer and x gerneration I am glad that the world has caught up ecomically with the U.S.; unfortunately advancements in technology is a double-edged sword helping individuals become more productive but also opening up the competition. I find myself competing with professionals from around the country and world for local projects- this was not the case just 10 years ago. But you know, I agree, (WTF), competition is a good thing. In the long run, (Using National Geographic terms), the monophagous who cannot or refuses to accept change or insists on ways to regulate their existence will die while the nimble omnivore will survive and prosper.
