Just a question

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   neocobra5posted 15 years ago

   1. Why do you think society is reverting to more self-employment (home businesses) instead of more jobs? Also, do you think this is progressive or regressive?

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      ledefensetechposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      We need more people to do self-employment, that's the only way to create new jobs.  As new companies come online, they expand and hire people.  So in that respect it's progressive, not recessive.  The only recessive thing about the whole situation is how the government is trying to hold up the correction to protect their buddies that screwed up.

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         livewithrichardposted 15 years agoin reply to this

         I totally agree with this.  I expect to expand and hire at least 3 people next spring.  Right now, I'm often contracting out some work that I cannot keep up with.  I'm not in a position to offer full time employment with benefits just yet, I still need to get a few ducks in a row.

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            ledefensetechposted 15 years agoin reply to this

            Awesome.  I just hope that abortion of a health bill dies.  That'll screw small business owners and give the recovery a kick in the teeth.

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      Mike Lickteigposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      In tough economic times with many people competing for relatively few jobs, the employer has an inordinate amount of power over the employee.  Self-employment is a hedge against that--it empowers the worker in ways that working for someone else cannot.  While the risks might seem greater, in tough times there are no guarantees regardless of the path one chooses, so small-businesses start-ups make more sense when jobs are tight.   
      
      There are also great satisfactions to self-employment--the entrepreneur is making money with their talent, rather than simply selling their time to someone else.  Often available jobs are mismatched with available workers- evinced by ads with titles like "$60,000 jobs available!"; well, sometimes there's a reason those jobs are unfilled.
      
      I do think this is a progressive trend, and it has and will infiltrate traditional employment modules to the extent that companies are starting to prefer independent contractors and virtual assistants to the standard practice of hiring full- and part-time staff.  As more people work for themselves, they will reintegrate themselves into the corporate culture, but (hopefully) more on their own terms.

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      Vladimir Uhriposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      I read that 99% are small businesses. It is back bone our society. Big business leads to monopoly, which dictates everything. There is against monopoly law. Soviet communists love our monopoly as well as others. They do not have to do business with many, but only one CEO.

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      Vladimir Uhriposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Loosing jobs are because government increased taxes on businesses and increased control and regulations. They moved out of country. Then we have socialism on the way when and all will become not equally rich but equally poor. People still do not see it. Aha, word  socialism was redefined and from bad became good. That's propaganda. It will kill us if we do not wake up. Yea, global cooling, we are like bear still sleeping.

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   cosetteposted 15 years ago

   lots of reasons. jobs are disappearing, no one is filling positions that get eliminated and people are getting tired of geting laid off. i have been laid off three times and five - FIVE - of the companies i worked for are gone. completely gone.
   
   and i was laid off because the positions were eliminated (technical writing), not because of performance. writing staff are among 'dessert' positions instead of the meat&potatoes, and we are the icing on the cake', which makes us even more expendable.

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      ledefensetechposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Most people hate it but if you want job security, get into sales and make a whole bunch of them.  If you can do that, you'll never want for work again.

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   Poppa Bluesposted 15 years ago

   I agree, if that is what you say is true. People do what is necessary to survive. We can't rely on government to create jobs, in fact everything that is being done now and all the is being proposed is bad for job creation. Even if the economy grows jobs will continue to be harder to find!

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   livewithrichardposted 15 years ago

   I can't answer your question for society but I can tell you why I became self employed.  Much like Cosette's experience, I had been laid off 5 times in the last 10 years from 3 different companies, 2 of which are no longer around.  I was tired of letting someone else be in control of my livelihood, so I took control last April. 
   
   I became a consultant in an idustry that has always been my lifeblood.  In taking control, I have realized almost a 4-fold increase in income even in this down economy.  Does it have drawbacks? Sure it does.  I'm also in control of maintaing my tax records, retirement accounts, health, life, and professional insurance policies.  I'm soley responsible for getting my clients and keeping them satisfied.  Would I ever go back? Not in this lifetime.

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   neocobra5posted 15 years ago

   But are we really stepping back or is this an good thing that jobs are decreasing because after all, are jobs really natural or should we be working for ourselves?

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   livewithrichardposted 15 years ago

   I always told myself that if I were to ever hire employees that I would only do it if I could offer all the benefits I was lacking when I was employed. 
   
   The way I read the proposed House bill, I would have to provide health insurance or pay a penalty of 8% of payroll that exceeds $400,000.  By the estimates I have received, this penalty will be $11,000 less than what it will cost me anually to provide health insurance but I would still provide it instead of opting for an inferior program.  I would eat the costs instead of passing it on to my clients in order to stay competitive.
   
   But back on topic, small business and the self employed have always made up the majority of employed in this country.  It's not a new trend, it's the American Way.

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   neocobra5posted 15 years ago

   But why are jobs important to people? (Just trying to keep the conversation rolling.) Was the industrial age just a new wave that's dying? Is the American Dream changing from a good job with benefits back to individual self-sufficiency?

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      ledefensetechposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      To understand what is wrong with out way of thinking, you really have to read about what people thought in the 1920's.  It was a time in which competition was catching up with industrialists.  That meant that they would have to compete better or die.  Instead of doing that, they began agitating for cartelization and central planning of the economy.  These protectionist measures are what help cause and deepened the Depression.
      
      This became especially true in nations like Italy and Germany pre-WW II.  It's similar to what the Communists wanted to do, but the output of the economy was put to different uses.  Effectively, however, the result of cartelization and centralization of the economy is no different than what happened to the Communist economy.  All central planners fail in the end.

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   livewithrichardposted 15 years ago

   I don't think its changing to self-sufficiency as much as it is changing to self-efficiency.  Not everyone is in a position to create his or her own job, nor does everyone want to. 
   
   We're way beyond the industrial age and well into the information age.  New information and technology is what keeps industry moving forward.  It's all intertwined in this global economy and there is no going back, short of a cataclysmic event.

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   awareposted 15 years ago

   i dont see that happening myself .but then again im in the construction biz. i cant build your house while sitting at mine .lol

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    repoprimoposted 15 years ago

    Why do you think society is reverting to more self-employment (home businesses) instead of more jobs? Also, do you think this is progressive or regressive?
    
    It is my belief that self employment movement is progressive. People are scared, as they were in the 1920's and 1930's. I think they are wanting to take control of their lives. small, home based businesses are one way for the individual to feel like they have some control over their future.
    
    History shows us that the small business is the back-bone of our economic growth, as a nation.  HOwever, larger companies are forgetting the lessons of the past.
    
    Most of the super businesses, started from home business roots, with modest resources. The Corporate Heads have "milked" the large companies, into a state that many will go out of business. These CEO's have forgotten the foundational premise of Service, and Customer Importance.  This is where the small "Home-based" businesses will arrive once again.

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    Lisa HWposted 15 years ago

    Economic factors aside, I think many people today want to have a little more control over their own lives, including having a little flexibility when it comes to things like how long they work.  Self-employment, too, often offers more potential for success than, say, a dead-end job; or a company where there's only so much room for growth.
    
    Things like the Industrial Revolution moved society "x far along" and into a "different place", and I think the technological revolution, as well as general shifts the economy, the workplace, and society in general have now moved people in yet a different direction.  I don't see it as "reverting", because I think what's at the root of any trends is different today than in the past.

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