Changing workplace

In the past a family could survive on dad’s income. Times changed, college became more expensive, food prices went up and mom went to work. We adjusted our lifestyle accordingly. People flocked to the large cities, real estate prices went crazy, housing boom occurred, and everybody was living and working in the city.

Then we moved into the suburbs, and commuted. Real estate in the suburbs now went crazy, and those poor souls stuck in the city, were frankly, stuck. Then the housing market collapsed, unemployment went into orbit and the stock market discovered just how low it could go, and still not find a bottom.

Next stage in the evolution, mom has two jobs, dad has three and a crazier economy than ever before. Everybody knows somebody who has suffered a foreclosure, lost their jobs, living on unemployment and has more than one job.

So what does this new economy look like? The average family has several jobs in an effort to make ends meet, as food prices increase, gas prices seem to have no ceiling and cost of living soars. Is there an end in sight?

I am convinced that more and more people will be sub contracting to their present employers. Tele commuting is the answer. People working from home office’s will decrease cost of travel, bring more actual cash into the home.  This will be accelerated if the new health care program is instituted. Small Business owners cannot afford the burden of health insurance for each employee, and so the obvious solution is hire sub contractors who pay for their own benefits. One subcontractor can now work for several companies at the same time, especially if the companies are all in different industries and the employee is not dealing with a conflict of interests.

Having less employees at your office reduces utility bills, paper costs, printing costs, coffee costs etc. You don’t need as many desks, telephone lines, parking spaces or such a large HR department. Now you hire a sub contractor who is paid per project. This brings in higher project fees, but a reduced cost per employee by eliminating employee benefits, parking spaces, office size and corresponding costs. I call this out sizing rather than down sizing. The quality of work produced will increase as each sub contractor now bids on a project. This bidding process keeps the costs down, but the quality will increase. The better your perform the more contracts you acquire.