The American Dream says that if you work hard enough, a person can make something of themselves. That is true of traditional jobs that exist only in specific sectors today. For everyone else, there are now part-time and dead-jobs in America.
Dead-End Jobs In America
There may still be some traditional jobs that allow a person to work their way up. Those jobs are now mostly only in specific fields. Namely STEM fields. Outside of those areas, part-time and dead-end jobs are now standard.
Most people now work in some sort of retail job. The United States has become a service economy. The FRED says the rise of the service economy is a good thing, even though those jobs pay less than other jobs that require more skill. The job may pay just above minimum wage.
Service jobs often do not pay enough for a person to be able to pay rent and other expenses that are necessary to live. It may or may not provide benefits (most likely not). A person cannot live on that with the rising cost of living. A person will never be able to buy a house working a part-time or retail job in the modern economy. Yet, the St. Louis Fed says that the growth of the service sector is great for the economy!
Dead-end jobs are the new normal. Millennials grew up with dead-end jobs as the standard. Deloitte writes regarding the rise of dead-end jobs. “Today, this model [the traditional career] is being shattered. As research suggests, and as I’ve seen in my career, the days of a steady, stable career are over. Organizations have become flatter and less ladder-like, making upward progression less common (often replaced by team or project leadership).”
The consequence of having less ability to move up in a company is that more people are stuck working entry-level jobs.
Despite attending college and later graduate school, my experience has been working random dead-end jobs. This has become the economic reality for many people. A college degree is no longer a guarantee that a person can get a job in a career that will allow them to work in a company.
Global Competition
Manufacturing jobs have been outsourced. Millennials and Gen Z now must compete on a global scale. Freelance and contract work are more common. Past generations do not have to face the competition to get a job that millennials and younger generations must face.
Previous generations did not face global competition in the workplace. Competition for jobs was only national. Companies can get away with paying employees less for working fewer hours due to job competition. The job does not even need to cover the bills. This is why it is common for a person to work two or three part-time jobs.
Solutions
The solution for Millennials and younger generations is solopreneurship. Entrepreneurship has always been the option to escape the rat race. To escape working a job you hate. In the Internet age, a person can start an online business.
An online business can be focused on one or more of the evergreen niches:
- Health
- Relationships
- Money
In the 21st Century, building a personal brand and a business is more accessible. Create a YouTube or TikTok channel. Start a website or Substack. A business must sell products and services to people. That is the essence of a business. An e-commerce business can sell:
- Physical products
- Digital products
- Coaching and other services
- Subscriptions
- Merchandise
The main reason why many people will not want to start a business is because it requires self-responsibility. The business owner is responsible for working to build revenue streams. Once a company has made enough money, a business owner can hire people to regain the time spent building the business.
Freelancers and contractors are the most cost-effective way of doing this. They are not full-time employees. An online business does not need to pay them benefits that come with a full-time employee. An online business owner can use the trend of part-time and gig work to save money. A business owner can choose to offer full-time work benefits after the business makes a profit, and the founder can consistently take a percentage off the top to pay oneself. That can take years, depending on the business niche and how business-savvy the business owner is starting.
Summary
Part-time and dead-end jobs are more common today. Young people can escape having to work dead-end jobs by accepting self-responsibility and starting their own online business. An online business is an opportunity to build a personal brand and business. A business has always been the way to build wealth since it is a financial asset that allows the business owner to create multiple income streams while enjoying the legal protections of having a business entity.
