> we have reached the end of a hundred-year fluke, an odd moment in economic history
A lifetime of full-time employment is indeed a very recent invention in the history of humanity, and as the article says, it's going out of fashion already.
But we must not forget that this "fluke" helped bring prosperity and stability to an unprecedented number of people in the developed world over the last 100 years, and especially in the middle of the 20th century. The middle class would not have existed without it. Even the freedom and equality that a lot of us take for granted today might not have existed without it, since a strong middle class is often said to be a critical prerequisite for democracy (at least until they grow older and get addicted to Fox News).
Short-term, project-based employment is good when there are always enough projects to choose from. Both IT and Hollywood are having good times now, so a lot of people can afford to live project-to-project. But what happens when the projects dry up?
Full-time employees of large corporations and government agencies can get through economic downturns with relatively little impact on their paycheck as long as they manage to stay employed. Even if they are laid off, they can often rely on unemployment benefits for a while. But if you're a freelancer and the projects suddenly stop coming, what do you do? Not many countries have the equivalent of unemployment insurance for freelancers, and no amount of unionization will help you survive for long in a world without projects.
Unfortunately, there is no turning back. The world has steadily been moving away from the lifetime full-time employment model for the last 20-30 years, leading to a catastrophic increase in the number of young people with zero economic stability. The fluke is coming to an end, and we're headed back to the time when farmers feasted in the fall and starved in the spring -- only this time we have much more overall wealth and better technology.
In the brave new world of temporary jobs, should every man fend for himself by setting aside a rainy day fund, the financial equivalent of a Tesla home battery to smooth out intermittent income? Will something like basic income save us?
>> "Full-time employees of large corporations and government agencies can get through economic downturns with relatively little impact on their paycheck as long as they manage to stay employed. Even if they are laid off, they can often rely on unemployment benefits for a while. But if you're a freelancer and the projects suddenly stop coming, what do you do? Not many countries have the equivalent of unemployment insurance for freelancers, and no amount of unionization will help you survive for long in a world without projects."
Not sure what country you're speaking about here but in the UK at least you can get unemployment benefits for as long as necessary providing you can show you are actively seeking and able to work (i.e. applying for jobs, attending interviews). Your past work history doesn't factor into it.
> providing you can show you are actively seeking and able to work (i.e. applying for jobs, attending interviews). Your past work history doesn't factor into it.
Past history doesn't matter, but what about the kind of work you want to do in the future?
The criteria you listed seem to be optimized for people who are looking for full-time employment. Would you qualify if you were an independent contractor who is temporarily out of clients?
According to Wikipedia [1], the UK JSA often requires beneficiaries to call or visit a specific number of companies each week, and not refuse a reasonable job offer. How does that work for an independent contractor who wants to continue being independent? Do you have to prove that you tried to sell your services to a specific number of potential clients each week? Or do you give up and just get a traditional job? If it's the latter, then the system is deliberately putting independent contractors at a disadvantage.
I'm not saying this is necessarily bad -- after all, beggars can't be choosers -- but it does dampen the original article's enthusiasm about project-based employment being the norm of the future.
A lifetime of full-time employment is indeed a very recent invention in the history of humanity, and as the article says, it's going out of fashion already.
But we must not forget that this "fluke" helped bring prosperity and stability to an unprecedented number of people in the developed world over the last 100 years, and especially in the middle of the 20th century. The middle class would not have existed without it. Even the freedom and equality that a lot of us take for granted today might not have existed without it, since a strong middle class is often said to be a critical prerequisite for democracy (at least until they grow older and get addicted to Fox News).
Short-term, project-based employment is good when there are always enough projects to choose from. Both IT and Hollywood are having good times now, so a lot of people can afford to live project-to-project. But what happens when the projects dry up?
Full-time employees of large corporations and government agencies can get through economic downturns with relatively little impact on their paycheck as long as they manage to stay employed. Even if they are laid off, they can often rely on unemployment benefits for a while. But if you're a freelancer and the projects suddenly stop coming, what do you do? Not many countries have the equivalent of unemployment insurance for freelancers, and no amount of unionization will help you survive for long in a world without projects.
Unfortunately, there is no turning back. The world has steadily been moving away from the lifetime full-time employment model for the last 20-30 years, leading to a catastrophic increase in the number of young people with zero economic stability. The fluke is coming to an end, and we're headed back to the time when farmers feasted in the fall and starved in the spring -- only this time we have much more overall wealth and better technology.
In the brave new world of temporary jobs, should every man fend for himself by setting aside a rainy day fund, the financial equivalent of a Tesla home battery to smooth out intermittent income? Will something like basic income save us?