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Are big corporations staged to fall from grace?
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Every generation is defined by a world event. My grandparents were shaped by the Great Depression. My parents by World War II. My Uncle Tom by Viet Nam. Me by the crazy 80's. (I recognize that my world event is not on par with World War II, but that's the brakes!) So now I look at my niece, Lorelei, who is 18 months old. Her life will be shaped by the aftermath of the digital age and the Great Recession.
Jack and Suzy Welch wrote an interesting column in Business Week last week about the flight of talent from corporate America, by choice and by layoffs. American confidence in big companies has been shaken, and rightly so, particularly in those under 35. My generation began to hit its stride in the business world in 2005. We were learning and earning in massive leaps. Every success in the world was at our fingertips if only we would extend our hand and catch it.
In September 2008, it all came crashing down. We've gone from striving for better and better to being grateful for just surviving layoffs. We've watched many friends and colleagues be turned out by their companies without so much as a thank you for their years of service. The American worker has been referred to as a line item on an excel spreadsheet, and the loss of their jobs described as a cost savings, a necessary casualty. It's a traumatic turn of events, for us and for big multi-nationals.
Going forward, I can't imagine us jumping back on the corporate bandwagon. I can't imagine my niece ever doing anything but working for herself with her own creative ideas. Perhaps the only way for big companies to survive is to make it their business to service and promote small companies and the entrepreneurs who run them. We may be witnessing the David and Goliath story of business come to life.
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