By Morf Morford
Tacoma Daily Index
It’s not your imagination.
The business world is infinitely more complicated, precarious and filled with danger than most of us could have imagined just a few years ago.
It’s not your father’s economy
Not only are the dangers greater, more intrusive and less predictable than a generation ago, but they are also far more catastrophic.
Here are a few.
Does anyone ever imagine supply chain disruptions? Especially supply chain disruptions that are immobilizing major industries like auto production?
Welcome to the 2020s.
94% of companies surveyed reported supply chain disruption related to COVID-19 in 2020.
What about the plethora of pandemic-related disruptions, from shipping to production and more, that have hammered every industry from travel to hospitality to local restaurants? With tourism cuts, labor issues and movement restrictions, who needed supply chain issues to create the proverbial perfect storm?
And then there was cybercrime.
With our increased reliance on our online presence, cybercrime or related issues were bound to occur.
From computer crashes/crashes to data breaches to ransomware, cyber sabotage was inevitable.
Global cybercrime weighs $1 trillion on the economy, a 50% jump from just two years ago.
What about erratic markets? Who needs cybercrime or supply chain issues when the market is volatile in almost any industry?
With increasing competition/new entrants, new products, new markets, market stagnation, market fluctuation and evaporation and emerging markets everywhere, you might think that every risk or opportunity has been presented. . No. we have just started.
What about legislative/regulatory changes, trade wars and tariffs, economic sanctions, protectionism, Brexit, Eurozone disintegration, border disputes between Canada and the United States (! )
In the United States, we have seen more than our usual share of natural disasters, from droughts to storms, floods, earthquakes and wildfires (to name a few) in recent years. .
And we know that more, and worse, are on the way.
And what about monetary policies, austerity programs, commodity price increases, deflation, inflation or that 1970s favorite, stag-flation?
You can see a survey of the biggest trading risks here.
What do you want to be when you grow up?
More and more adults are asking themselves this question again.
It was called the big quit and the big shakeup, among other things, but whatever we call it, more and more workers, every day, are rethinking what they want to do with the days and years of their lives.
In 2019, 7 out of 10 people described themselves as being burnt out.
And more than 50% of the American workforce is considered “unengaged”.
When the economy laid off around 10 million of us in 2020, many of us decided we had no interest in going back to the office — or working at all.
And then there were the boomers
The oldest group of baby boomers turned 62 and became eligible for early retirement in 2008.
Until 2019, the retired population has increased by one million per year. Since then, the retired population has grown by three and a half million over those three years.
Baby boomers decided, it seems, that a few extra dollars in their retirement accounts weren’t worth the extra time and that spending quality time enjoying their later years was more important.
On a personal note, I keep hearing about what just a year or two ago would have been my dream job. I’m thinking of applying – but I’m not. I’m just not interested in using my time that way. Even for a job that I may like, the time commitment is too long.
The job market is changing, and who participates and at what price are suddenly new variables in an ever-changing economy. We will soon have more people over 65 than under 18 – for the first time in our history.
To learn more about the evolution of American demographics, look here. I recommend taking a seat, taking a deep breath, and taking a long look.
The face of America is changing, and yes, nothing will be the same.
