Silicon Valley has always been pushing new ideas when it comes to work. Indeed, startups have always pushed the concept that you need to be “passionate” about what you are doing. Considering the long hours and frenetic pace that startups usually operate at, the reality is that “passion” is sometimes the emotion that enables entrepreneurs and their first startup employees to survive.
With the pandemic, it is not only startups that are reconsidering their strategies but their individual employees as well. Startup employees have either voluntary or involuntary been forced to think about what they are truly doing with their lives and whether they are truly doing what they really want to do.
In many respects, the pandemic and the associated social, political and economic ramifications have made individuals wonder whether what they are doing is really “adding value” or is it merely a rebranding of old economic practices. In other words, it is more of the “same old, same old” or something really new and different?
While many would argue that the latest generation of startups are attempting to improve lives and processes by making the world more efficient and effective. There is no dispute that there have been indeed improvements in how businesses and societies function. One only has to look at the benefits that startups such as Google and Uber have provided. On the other hand though one could argue that the benefits they offer fall short of what is needed to truly make society more efficient and effective. Indeed, one could argue that most of today’s startups merely paper over truly inefficient processes with technology.
Startup entrepreneurs like to believe that they are opening up opportunities for individuals to pursue their interests and passions through the development of new open platforms and technologies. There is no doubt that there have been a number of startups that have definitely created these open platforms and technologies such as Uber and Etsy that have empowered individuals but even they are constrained by larger economic and social forces.
While startups such as Uber and Etsy have definitely enabled individuals to be more productive along specific use cases, the reality is that solving specific use cases is of limited value and merely pushes complexity and difficulty to other stages of a process or a system. Let’s take the example of Etsy.
There is no doubt that Etsy has enabled handmade producers to expand their audience from local to global thanks to an easy-to-use platform that enables them to take advantage of the growth in e-commerce. While Etsy has definitely expanded potential revenues for handmade producers, it has, in some respects, also created additional headaches for these same producers.
From basics such as online inventory management and e-commerce platform maintenance to more complex issues such as international shipping and cross-border payments, some handmade producers ultimately deal with more complexity than they originally think they are signing up for. Many startup advocates and the startups themselves would argue that (1) others within the startup ecosystem will eventually solve the issues related to other stages of a process or a system and (2) due to the constraints of the current system, mainly limited funding, all a startup can really do is address a few unique use cases.
If startups that are revolutionizing society are limited in terms of what they can revolutionize, one has to wonder what impact this has on their employees. Indeed, one wonders if startup employees are really adding more value or are being inundated with requests to complete the same old processes but at an accelerated pace.
A common reality amongst startup employees are the long hours and endless tasks they are forced to undertake in order to make their startup successful. In many respects, it isn’t surprising. With no existing systems or processes in place and combined with limited financial runway and overall resources, startup employees are amongst the most overworked individuals in the economy today.
However, in today’s economy, it is not only startup employees who are encountering long hours and endless tasks. Corporate employees that are in the midst of reshaping their businesses to be more nimble and adaptable are encountering the same challenges. With both startup and corporate employees encountering the same long hours and endless tasks, what does the future hold for employees?
Prior to the pandemic, one could argue that the trend was longer hours and even more endless tasks were in store for employees. This was primarily due to the fact that the economy continues to adapt to a more rapid pace thanks to technology but the gradual and ceaseless reduction in job opportunities thanks to automation and artificial intelligence. Post pandemic, however, that trend seems to have been broken.
The pandemic and its work from home policies has caused many employees to reconsider their circumstances. Employees are increasingly wondering whether they are with an employer that reflects their personal beliefs and values and whether they are doing work that they personally find valuable. This forced personal self-reflection has many human resource professionals worried about the probability of the “Great Resignation” where employees resign their current roles to pursue personal and professional interests that are better aligned.
The root cause behind the “Great Resignation” isn’t hard to fathom. When forced to confront what they want from their individual lives, many individuals realize that their current role or position isn’t what they really want as either a legacy or as a career.
For some, it might be due to the fact that their current role isn’t their true passion. For many though, it is due to the fact that their current role increasingly represents “dumb productivity” in the age of automation and artificial intelligence.
Employees are recognizing that they want more than nebulous job security. Indeed, whether they consciously or subconsciously realize it, most employees know that their roles will be eventually eliminated thanks to automation and artificial intelligence. As such, employees are seeking opportunities to not only pursue their passions but to ensure that they have the future they desire versus one that is dictated by unfortunate financial constraints.
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