Where are the Jobs?

Posted by Jim Van on July 26, 2011 under entrepreneur, small business | 2 Comments to Read

The current (August, 2011) issue of Inc. Magazine has an article stating that Small Businesses aren’t creating jobs at the rate they used to [see article]. They quoted a recent study from the Kaufmann Foundation. Fewer jobs? I think that Inc., the Kaufmann foundation, most of our politicians and media pundits miss what’s going on…

As I commented in the article, a few years ago, Logicomm outsourced our after-hours help-desk support to a company in Oregon. They cost us an average of $93/mo per client, vs. $400+/mo plus a plethora of paperwork that is the cost of doing business in New England. Given the fierce competition in my profession, IT Support, it made sense to do this, particularly given that the vast majority of clients never call for support after hours.

We’re a fairly typical small business, from what I can see. And, we outsource many tasks, including bookkeeping, office work, some PR, even some tech work. We provide WORK for between 8 and 9 freelancers, who, by providing services for multiple companies, work full (35 hours+) weekly and earn at least a decent wage. Do these count as jobs? No, not in the typical sense. Is it work? Yes: it’s the new work model.

If you’re active in social networking, you’re pretty aware of the number of people who have gone into business for themselves. Many, if not most, are ‘forced’ entrepreneurs, who had to hang out their shingle when their jobless benefits ran out. I did, 16 years ago. My PR person did, nine years ago. Two of my techs went freelance after HP’s CEO, Mark Hurd, needed a few million more in his annual compensation and laid them, and about 12,998 others off five years ago. After months, and in some cases, years, of looking, they decided to go back to work, and joined the new business model. They got it. I just have to wonder when the government and media might follow….