Ny tsy fananana asa: ahoana no hiarovana ny tenanao sy hifidy ny asa ho avy?

More and more people in the world are dissatisfied with work and income levels. Even in the US, median household income is now lower than it was in 1999, more than a third of the working-age population is unemployed, and 45 million Americans receive public assistance, a number nearly double what it was in 2007.

Will the situation get worse?

Will. The number of jobs with a stable salary and additional bonuses in the US is decreasing every year. Even a high-tech career is not a panacea. The career forecast for 2016 placed programmers on the list of the most «unreliable» professions. And it’s not at all that programming will not be in demand in the coming years, it’s just that this work can be done remotely by a specialist from Asia.

The reduction in the number of jobs occurs for the following reasons.

1. Use of cheap labor

A remote worker from a developing country can be paid many times less and save on pension and health insurance, vacation and sick leave.

We are not saved by a good education and work experience: a doctor from India today is qualified enough to decipher a mammogram, and a teacher from Vietnam gives exciting lessons via Skype.

2. Bankruptcy of large companies

High salaries, numerous deductions and taxes in 2016 caused the bankruptcy of 26% of American companies. Among them, for example, the second largest chain of Mexican restaurants in the US, Don Pablo, and retail chains KMart and 99 cents only.

3. automatique

Robots always start work on time, do not get sick, do not need lunch breaks and vacations, and are not rude to customers. Instead of millions of people, ATMs, self-checkouts in supermarkets, automatic pickup points (Amazon alone has more than 30 of them) are already working.

At the Starwood hotel chain, robots serve rooms, at Hilton they are experimenting with a concierge robot, and at Tesla factories there are almost no people. Even the barista profession is under threat – Bosch is working on an automatic barista. Automation is happening in all industries, even in countries with cheap labor: Foxconn, which assembles the iPhone, plans to replace 100% of workers with robots. In the near future, the profession of a driver will disappear — trucks, trains and buses will be controlled «unmanned».

4. The emergence of free workers

It is mainly about creative professions. Many people are willing to write articles without a fee. This is how they promote themselves, their company, or simply assert themselves.

Ny hatao?

So, we figured out why this is happening, what (and who) puts our working future at risk. But what to do about it? How to protect yourself, where and how to look for your niche?

1. Choose a career that won’t be replaced by a robot or competitor from another continent

Pay attention to the career options of the future with a psychological bias:

• Consulting. Consider niches that will be in demand at any time: interpersonal relationships, nutrition, parenting, anger management. A promising direction is counseling in the field of interracial relations and immigration.

• Fanangonana vola. Non-profit organizations are in dire need of development professionals. These are people who know how to find wealthy people and corporations who are ready to take a financial part in the organization’s projects. Such specialists are masters of networking, they know how to make useful contacts.

2. Atombohy ny orinasanao manokana

Self-employment is a risky business, but by registering a company, you will become a leader, even if you do not have a higher education diploma and not a single subordinate.

Do you feel like you’re not creative enough to come up with an innovative business idea? You don’t have to come up with something original. Use existing ideas and models. Try to avoid highly competitive fashion fields such as high-tech, biotech, finance, and the environment.

You can choose an inconspicuous niche in B2B (“business to business.” — Approx. ed.). First you need to find the «pain points» of companies. Think about your problems at your current and previous place of work, ask friends and family about their experiences. Compare your observations.

What are the most common problems faced by companies? For example, many organizations are dissatisfied with their customer service departments. Knowing this, you can, for example, develop trainings for customer service specialists.

Now that you have a viable business idea, you need to implement it. The best plan will not succeed if its execution is poor. You need to create a good product, charge a reasonable price, ensure timely delivery and service, and make a profit that suits you.

Do not try to attract customers with low prices. If you’re not Wal-Mart or Amazon, low profits will destroy your business.

You can achieve success in any business if you take into account the psychological characteristics of people: you know how to communicate with clients and subordinates, after a short conversation you see whether the job seeker suits you or not. If you want to start a business related to psychology, you should pay attention to coaching. You will help people manage their careers and finances, connect with colleagues and loved ones, and achieve work-life balance.

If you don’t have an entrepreneurial streak, consider hiring an experienced practitioner to help you write a business plan and prepare the project for launch. However, some entrepreneurs refuse to help start-ups for fear of competition. In this case, you can seek advice from an entrepreneur living in another region.