Imagined by Rebecca at Canvas.com

There was a time when getting a job working for a great company was the gold standard we measured success. It went something like:

• Go to school
• Learn a trade or discipline
• Get a job
• Enjoy your 20–30 year career.
• Retire and enjoy the rest of your life

Then came the end of the 20th century where we witnessed an explosion in the proliferation of technology. The Information Age had officially arrived. And with it, we officially ushered out the Industrial Age.

What does this mean to the average worker in the 21st century?

With the rise in technology and the creation of the internet, a new era was born. And with this new era came a rise in entrepreneurship as professionals began using technology to create their own pathways to income.

Connect that to the massive layoffs we witnessed starting in the 1980s as corporations noticed the economic shift. Enter the concept of the “disposable worker.”

No longer did companies see employees as assets and essential to company growth. Instead, employees were classified as “the cost of doing business,” and any cost-cutting measure was tied to a reduction in the labor force.

Strong managers who make tough decisions to cut jobs provide the only true job security in today’s world. Weak managers are the problem. Weak managers destroy jobs. Jack Welch

As average workers began to feel the impact of sudden unemployment, attitudes began shifting against company loyalty and towards worker survival.

I remember witnessing these trends as a young person and thinking to myself, “The company will never take care of me. I have to take care of myself.”

As we have navigated the last decade, the shift has been experienced in even more radical ways. Add to the narrative of the experienced professional being laid off suddenly was another narrative that included college graduates. Companies that previously looked to colleges and universities for talent shifted their focus to hiring already trained and experienced professionals looking for their next opportunity. The “entry-level” job lost its appeal, and college graduates found themselves lost in an economy that no longer saw them as desirable talent.

We should not be surprised that Generation Zers now worship the idea of becoming a self-made entrepreneur.

Death to corporate America.

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Rebecca is a trainer, speaker, writer, and Certified Professional Coach with a mission to support companies who want to infuse innovation into their culture. Learn more at www.trainwithRebecca.com.