Gina Neff’s argument that risk is social and her examples on how social contexts and discourse influenced the way individuals in the dot-com era perceived risk and reacted to it, reminded me of a recent campaign by AXE called #Selfmaker. Due to major criticism in discourse by feminists in regards to the brand’s representation of women in their advertisements, the company has shifted their story to sell a different type of confidence to males. This caused the creation of a new campaign that revolves around being a self-maker and going against the grain, doing something you love instead of following the usual career path. Among the stories highlighted in their campaign is a Wall Street financial employee who quit his job to open a local store of selling suits. The story positions risk as cool, just like it has been done in the past.
According to a survey by Accenture, only 15% of students in 2015 said they would like to work for large corporations (CNN). Do you think continued representations of successful entrepreneurs and encouragement to go against the grain will cause more millennials to view risk as appealing and opt out of traditional jobs for more innovative work places and jobs? We can see an increase in discourse about new ventures as even Laurier has created entire courses revolved around this career path, such as “BU311 Entrepreneurship and New Ventures” and “BU440 New Venture Creation.” What other social forces do you think might impact new grads in pursuing a new venture career path instead of working for a large corporation?
Hearing that only 15% of students in 2015 would want to work for large corporations isn't surprising. This is most likely due to the 'horror' stories we're exposed. Our parents, friends, or even what we hear through the news or online are social forces to show us the dark side of large corporations. Learning of companies constantly laying employees off, showing a lack of attention to many of their employees, the limited advancement, the great competition and many others can push society to find work that may not have these problems. This coupled with stories of successful entrepreneurs as well push society to want to follow in this new path of fortune. Another social force is our educational system. Specifically the courses we can take that focuses on entrepreneurship like Diana mentioned, but as well how we study on the greatness of what some entrepreneurs have accomplished.
ReplyDeleteI am actually shocked that there are such a low number of students who say they want to work for large corporations. Although I know that small businesses and entrepreneurship are becoming more predominant in our society, I thought that there would be more people who like the “secure” option of working for a corporation and having a steady income. Despite the risk of layoffs that Victoria mentioned, the risk associated with corporations is less than that of owning a business. Moreover, although 85% say that want to own their own business, approximately only 15% of Canadians actually own their own business (The Canadian Press). The idea of “going against the grain” is appealing to many. I mean who doesn’t want to be in charge, make their own schedule and potentially earn a much higher income working for themselves? The reality is that starting a business takes much more time than people initially anticipate, and in addition, only half of businesses will make it to five years (The Canadian Press). I believe that representations and encouragement of risk causes the idea to be more appealing, however the reality is that starting a business is harder than it looks, and these ad campaigns don’t portray the many businesses that weren’t successful. I believe that corporations will continue to dominate, because job stability is important to new grads, as is a guaranteed salary.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cbc.ca/news/business/record-number-of-canadians-starting-own-businesses-1.1256453
I think a social force that is possibly causing more people to lean toward new ventures is technological advancements becoming more frequent and available.
ReplyDeleteFor example, in previous years, new graduates might not have been able to actualize their potential as a business owner because they simply did not have the means or the access to software or material technologies required to run a company. Instead, they likely felt forced to work for a large company that owned the software or devices required to be successful.
I think that now, people are able to start up their own ventures because the required technologies have become more personal, or even people are becoming more creative with the softwares they have access too, and making them fit their needs.
My idea is based in the social construction of technology theory- wherein someone sees a new use to technology and it becomes created as a result.
I think that a major reason more people want to start their own businesses is because of a growing awareness of the effects of North American capitalism and the odds of achieving "success".
ReplyDeleteCapitalism is inherently exploitative and functions through the benefit of the few at the expense of others. In terms of large corporations, the people who benefit are the owners and people in positions of power. These people are the wealthiest, and grow their wealth exponentially, by ensuring their employees are making less than their labour is worth in order to maximize the owner's profit.
The circumstances of working for a large corporation, and knowing that your labour (and the labour of others) is being exploited for the benefit of the already-wealthy, could be a massive deterrent for students who are looking to succeed and build their own wealth.
It is also more likely for straight, white, able-bodied men to be hired to work in corporate positions than anyone else, which could act as another explanation why the majority of people might not want to work for them - because the majority of people are not white, straight, able-bodied men.
To answer your question directly, I think the social force driving this change in business ventures is extreme capitalism and its hegemonic implications for youth and human rights.
Neff raises a lot of important questions in her book regarding the way we have come to understand risk in society. In her opening chapter she explains how young people entering the workforce do not think of their jobs as long-term, rather, they think of them as a "stepping stone" a way to get your foot in the door. This itself is a way to manage risk. You take a job to acquire certain skills which will later make you competitive in the job market. I think that its pretty uncommon for entry level post-grad students to land their dream job right off the bat. And thus, its extremely common for us to learn to manage risk in this way. We need to make ourselves more marketable so that we will be scouted and desired by prospect employers in the future. If this means taking a job we don't absolutely LOVE out of the gate, this is a trade off I would say most of us are willing to make.
ReplyDeleteI think it is also interesting to think about the employeers stake in this "risk". You would think that employeers would want a low churn rate amongst their employees in order to mitigate the cost of training. However, the opposite seems to be true. Employees seem to run "zero tolerance" operations with a mentality that if an employee can't perform someone else will. They see the mitigation as risk as a simple "cutting" of under performers.
In the new economy, people go graduate high school or college/university with little to no experience in their career field of choice. This would not be an issue if employers didn’t expect up to 3 years of experience for entry level positions. Large corporations are the worst for this which could be by people are saying that they would rather work for a smaller company or work for themselves to play by their own rules. In modern society with all of our technological advancements it is prime time for people to come up with their own businesses; opportunity is everywhere, it just takes a little risk for a possible long-term reward. The amount of contract, temporary and precarious work nowadays especially within marketing/advertising/communications is phenomenal. If only 15% of students say they would work for a large corporation this could be because they want something more reliable/stable .
ReplyDeleteOverall, I’d say that another social force which impacts their choice to work for a large corporation vs. pursue a new venture path is the desire to “make it”; everyone thinks that they can be the next Steve Jobs. Shows like Dragons Den and Shark Tank promote entrepreneurial careers which could workout but could also cause a person to lose everything.