• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

512-693-7132

Packages   About   Testimonials

Career Pivot

Career Pivot

Repurpose your career. Pivot now.

  • Get Started
  • Books
    • Repurpose Your Career
    • Personal Branding for Baby Boomers
    • Repurpose Your Career 2019 Book Launch
  • Podcast
    • Career Pivot Interviews
    • Interviews with Career Experts
    • Repurpose Your Career Audio Book
    • Repurpose Your Career Series
    • Becoming an Expat
    • Question and Answer
    • Other Topics
  • Blog
    • 2nd Half of Life
    • Career Success
    • Career Change
    • Job Search
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Social Media
    • Multi-Generational Workplace
    • Networking
    • Expat
    • Survey Results
  • Community
  • Resources
  • Expat
  • Contact

Get Career Pivot Insights

The End of Jobs – A Book Every Boomer Should Read

The End of Jobs: Money, Meaning and Freedom Without the 9-to-5

end of jobsI was first introduced to the book End of Jobs and author Taylor Pearson on Ryan Rhoten’s Brand New You Podcast. (By the way, I became a big fan of Ryan’s podcast after I was interviewed by Ryan late last year.)

I immediately ordered the audio version of End of Jobs and listened to it twice. Taylor’s focus and message are primarily directed at his generation—Gen Y—but I believe this is a message that every boomer should listen to.

Taylor claims that we are exiting the knowledge economy and entering the entrepreneurial economy.  It has never been easier to become an entrepreneur with little risk. At the same time, jobs are getting to be riskier and riskier.

Peak Jobs

Taylor claims we have reached peak jobs. He writes:

As a society, we’ve hit peak jobs. The era of largely abundant, high-paying jobs that characterized the second half of the twentieth century is gone.

Since 1983, the only segment of “jobs” to show significant growth were “Non-Routine Cognitive Jobs.” In other words: creating systems.

According to a 2015 report from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers based on data from the US Census Bureau, from 1948–2000, jobs grew 1.7× faster than population. Since 2000, the population has grown 2.4× faster than jobs.

There are several factors that have caused this shift. Taylor states:

There are three primary reasons to believe that we are at peak jobs and approaching the End of Jobs:

  1. Sharp rises in communication technology and improved global educational standards over the past decade mean that companies can hire anyone, anywhere. Jobs are increasingly moving to Asia, South America, and Eastern Europe.
  2. The notion of machines, both hardware, and software, taking over blue-collar factory jobs now largely accepted—but now they’re increasingly taking over white collar, knowledge-based jobs as well.
  3. Traditional university degrees—bachelor’s, master’s, and PhDs—have become abundant, making them less valuable than ever.

I am going to add a fourth, and that is the rapid aging of populations in countries like the US, UK, Germany, France, and Japan. The median age in Japan and Germany is now over 50. Think about it!

Repurpose Your Career Podcast

Listen to the most recent episode

This shift is happening and, as much as you might not like it, the rate of change will not slow down but accelerate.

Since most of us will need to work into our seventies and possibly eighties, the concept of a job has become an obsolete proposition.

How Not to Be a Turkey

I was raised to be a turkey. Taylor uses the following quote to explain the life of a turkey:

“A turkey is fed for a thousand days by a butcher; every day confirms to its staff of analysts that butchers love turkeys ‘with increased statistical confidence.’ The butcher will keep feeding the turkey until a few days before Thanksgiving…[The] turkey will have a revision of belief—right when its confidence in the statement that the butcher loves turkeys is maximal and ‘it is very quiet’ and soothingly predictable in the life of the turkey.” N.N. Taleb

From the day a Thanksgiving turkey is born, everything about its life indicates that things are only going to get better. It’s hatched in a safe, sterile environment. It’s cared for and fed daily.

Every single day, this pattern happens again. It wakes up to find plenty of food and a place to live.

It is at the moment when the turkey has the most historical data to show that its life is likely to keep improving, on the 4th Wednesday of November, that it realizes — It’s not so good to be a turkey.

I was raised to be an employee to go to work for a father-like company that would provide all of my wishes and eventual retirement.

That was all true for me until January 1993 when IBM eliminated their full employment commitment and laid people off for the first time in their history. That was when I realized—I was a turkey.

Are you a turkey?

Entrepreneurship is Safer Than Ever

The barriers to entrepreneurship have never been lower.

There is a democratization of tools. SaaS, or Software as a Service, has brought leading-edge tools to the masses. I run Career Pivot on a variety of tools that are either free or low cost. You can read about the tools I use here.

There is a democratization of distribution.

When I was working in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) from 2000-2003, getting a product manufactured there was difficult. In 2016, it is a matter of browsing the website Alibaba and finding a factory that manufactures similar products to yours. It is really quite easy.

I know what you’re thinking…really?? I have a Leadership Austin classmate who has a workout glove design that he is having manufactured in the PRC. The factory ships the products to Amazon procurement which warehouses the product until it is sold online on Amazon.

In the book, Taylor takes you through the logic on why this is happening and why his generation should be jumping at the new reality.

End of Jobs

I have lived through many of the transitions that Taylor writes about in the End of Jobs. He warns that if you plan to ride this out you will be surely be left behind.

He is right! 

Pick up a copy of The End of Jobs: Money, Meaning and Freedom Without the 9-to-5 and let me know if you are a turkey or if you are going to enter the age of entrepreneurship.

Marc Miller  

Like what you just read? Share it with your friends using the buttons above.

Like What Your Read? Get Career Pivot Insights

Check out the Repurpose Your Career Podcast

Do You Need Help With ...



 Job Search

Career Pivot/
Change

Career Success

Careers in the 2nd Half of Life

Social Media

Multi-Generational Workplace

Networking

Entrepreneurship

 

Category iconEntrepreneurship Tag iconend of jobs

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Taylor Pearson says

    March 16, 2016 at 2:07 pm

    Thanks for writing this up and the kind words Marc. Really interesting to hear it form your experience. The PRC manufacturing and IBM stories are particularly poignant.

    Reply
    • Marc Miller says

      March 17, 2016 at 11:05 am

      Taylor,

      You are very welcome. I listened to the Audible version twice. I like that you went off script at time. I will do that myself when I record my next version of my book.

      Reply
  2. John Lewis says

    October 24, 2016 at 6:37 pm

    I may get this book, if only because there are some assumptions I’ve found in Amazon’s ‘Look Inside’ preview of it that I feel are flat wrong and dangerous.

    It’s not so much the end of jobs, but the advocacy of throwing away rules and regulations that are in existence for a reason – and celebrating that as if it will be worthwhile in the long run to have that happen.

    Reply
    • Marc Miller says

      October 25, 2016 at 10:28 am

      John,

      The book targets the kids but what he says is so true. The barriers to entrepreneurship have collapsed.

      Marc

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Are you ready to take control of your career?
Are you ready to stop reacting and start planning what is next?

 

Join Career Pivot

For those who want to fall in love with their work again, redeploy their experience and skills into a new career, and prudently make a shift, Marc Miller’s strategic guidance is a pathway to success.

Kerry Hannon, author of Never Too Old To Get Rich: The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Starting a Business Mid-Life

Available on Amazon.com and other fine retailers

Blog Categories

  • 2nd Half of Life (93)
  • Becoming an Expat (15)
  • Career Change (32)
  • Career Pivot (32)
  • Career Success (94)
  • Entrepreneurship (21)
  • General (4)
  • Job Search (87)
  • Mult-Generational (17)
  • Networking (12)
  • Personal Brand (8)
  • Podcasts (210)
    • Podcast – Becoming an Expat (19)
    • Podcast – Career Pivoter (40)
    • Podcast – Expert (79)
    • Podcast – Other (17)
    • Podcast – Question and Answer (19)
    • Podcast – Repurpose Your Career Book (18)
    • Podcast – Repurpose Your Career Series (15)
  • Social Media (21)
  • Survey Results (16)

BoomerJobTips

A Baby Boomer Learning Community

Popular Posts

  • What If You Are Not Passionate About Anything? [Updated] (326,528)
  • Talents versus Skills – Do you know the difference? (119,248)
  • College Degree After 50 – Is It Worth It? It… (90,972)
  • What is Your Current Salary? How to Answer! [Updated] (52,768)
  • Are you a Multipotentialite? (50,146)
  • Perfect Fit for the Position? Expect to Lose! [Updated] (42,792)
  • How Long Will My Job Search Take? Longer Than You… (38,252)
  • Who is Really Making the Hiring Decision? [Updated] (26,490)
  • 3 Steps to Get the Hiring Manager or Recruiter to Respond (25,286)
  • Dealing with that Directionless Feeling [Updated] (23,491)
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter

© Marc Miller and Associates, LLC 2012-2019 ~ All Rights Reserved | A Standard Beagle Website | Read Our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Find out more.