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I’ve been a little bit surprised by the title of Taylor Pearson‘s book: The End of Jobs. My first thought was “wouldn’t be a better title: the end of jobs as we know them”?

After all, there are a lot of factors involved in this discussion and it depends a lot on the type of job that you are performing.

We cannot all become an entrepreneur, that’s for sure. But if you are in doubt and you don’t know if it is the right decision to choose that direction, you are going to love this book.

The basic idea of the book is that being an entrepreneur is no longer as risky as it was a few decades ago. In fact, the funny part is that: keeping your current job and having nothing else to rely on may be in the end the worst decision.

Taylor Pearson tries to give us the insights on this issue.

INDEPENDENT JOBS / THE END OF JOBS 

How society developed with the help of globalization and the increasing technology discoveries.

These are phenomena that are not slowing down or stopping: Globalization is not just continuing—it’s accelerating.  Many of the jobs that our grandparents had are now obsolete and the specialists say that by the year 2030, around 50% of the job titles that we have today, will no longer exist.

This is due to technology. What globalization and the internet did, was to create access for young entrepreneurs to cheap resources from all over the world.

You no longer need an office and a staff hired in your country. You can work from home and hire an accountant from India, a web designer from China or a content writer from Russia.

The internet made it possible for everyone to start a business with little to no resources and to test their ideas. So what if you don’t make it from the start? You learn your lesson and try again. Just that now your costs are not so high and you are not completely bankrupt:

Whether you choose to fight the changes or embrace them is up to you. The opportunity won’t last forever.

Taylor Pearson gives us an example: two young people with the same studies, same aptitudes, but who chose different paths. One went and got a job at a good company.

He got a mortgage, indulged in some extra expenses because he was sure that at some point he will be promoted.

The other started small as an entrepreneur, many times he hardly had money to survive, but he worked hard and always kept his eyes on the prize: being financially independent.

The first one, was substituted with a person working from an underdeveloped country, willing to do the job for a lot less money.

The second guy, had a rough start, but managed to build his own company and was not making a profit. So the conclusion of the story is that:

Entrepreneurship is more accessible, safer, and more profitable than ever before in history.

‘Entrepreneurship is connecting, creating, and inventing systems— be they businesses, people, ideas, or processes. A job is an act of following the operating system someone else created.’ I think this quote pretty much sums up the difference between having a job and being an entrepreneur.

We reached a development point where people if they really want to, are able to design and create their realities and their jobs. You are no longer trapped in a factory, you just need to focus on what you want to achieve and work for it.

The fact that we can find cheaper workforce overseas has its ups and downs. On one hand, you can start a business with relatively small resources and employ or contract people at very good rates.

But, on the other hand, it could indicate that you are being laid off because the company you work for decided to employ other people capable to do your job, but also prepared to work for far less money:

Improved communication technology has made it easy for individuals and companies to find, hire, and manage not just industrial workers, but knowledge workers.

It is hard even for the new generations to understand and cope with the level of intensity at which technology is developing. Let’s take the sequencing of the human genome.

It took seven years only for a small portion (1%) to be analyzed and segmented and then in only fifteen years, the project was completed. People were not able to make these kinds of predictions.

Once a discovery is made, the progress coming out of it is dramatically increased and people find it hard to keep up with all the information available and the systems created.

The book also tries to deal a bit with the fear that many entrepreneurs have at the beginning. They think they are not smart enough, they don’t have the resources, and they don’t have a great idea.

Taylor Pearson tells us in a reassuring tone that other people are not necessarily smarter than the rest, but they have something that is crucial in order to be successful: relationships.

You don’t need a great idea from the beginning. Ideas will come to you for sure and the resources will come up as well. What you need are strong, reliable relationships with people that are already successful in business, or that maybe are searching for partners:

It was interesting to discover in the book, how the power shifted over the centuries.

• In the beginning, the monarchs were controlling the states.
• After the bank was established, bankers had most of the time, even more, power than the leaders of a country.
• And slowly, the power shifted towards the corporations.

Nowadays, we still have a lot of influential people in the world, but the power is much more dispersed and available to many people. To some extent, we have more power than ever in the human history to go out and create our own future.

The basic assumption we make about jobs is that because they were the safe thing to do for such a long time, it will be the safe thing for the future also. We are actually just accumulating silent risk.

We think we are doing great at our job, but since it’s not our decision to make, we could get fired at any given time: entrepreneurial risk is more visible than the silent risk accumulated by people in most jobs.

The book talks also about the return of apprenticeships. More and more young people are willing to work hard and for relatively low pay, just to have access to a great mentor and the know-how of a company.

It’s a trend that can be transformed into a win-win situation. You are aware that this person will not stick with your company for more than 2-3 years, but they could become a potential partner after they go on their own.

The salary is smaller than in the case of a regular employee and they are willing to work very hard.

On the other hand, the young person that is entering an apprenticeship has the opportunity to learn valuable stuff and gain experience without investing his own money and he will have time to create the much-needed relationships:

There’s a large number of people who are willing to make the sacrifices and do the work at an exceptional value.

The internet is really the one to thank when it comes to the freedom of information. Think about all the resources and wisdom nuggets that we have access to.

Before, if you wanted to know something you had to go to a library and pray that they have the right book where you can find the answer. Now, with one click of a button, in few seconds, all you want to know becomes available.

So, the direction of the evolution of the world seems to be on the side of those who want to become entrepreneurs. The secret is just to want it bad enough and be ready to work hard for it. 

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“The End of Jobs Quotes”

Our Critical Review

Despite your current standings and progress, we firmly believe that “The End of Jobs” is a book that opposes the necessary machinery for reaching success.

If you are open to grasp the intention of an unbiased investigation, then don’t hesitate.

Emir Zecovic

Emir is the Head of Marketing at 12min. In his spare time, he loves to meditate and play soccer.