The End of the sharing economy
The sharing economy is a concept which involves short-term peer-to-peer transactions to share use of idle assets like homes, cars and other assets and services. This is marked by the use of online platforms like Uber, AirBnb etc.
The biggest characteristic of the sharing economy was that there was less importance to ownership and more emphasis on a pay as you use model. Many experts have claimed that the rise of the sharing economy was due to the preferences of Millennials, the comfort with technology and changing consuming patterns marked by the rise of the triple bottom line (TBL or 3BL).
While all these would have contributed, my assertion is that the fundamental cause was the collapse of earning power and destruction of wealth brought about by the 2008 financial crisis. Depending on which estimate you look at the figures vary from $ 7 trillion to 34.4 Trillion in the US alone, as per the Roosevelt Institute.
With no money, or very little of it, attitudes of young professionals changed to conserving cash, staying at home, renting not buying, sharing where possible. Hence the rise of the app based services. With the occurrence of the CoVID 19 pandemic, I personally feel that the need for life security would stump everything else.
- Why share vehicles when you can e-connect? Or Buy a second hand car
- Can you trust the Airbnb accommodation to ensure hygiene?
- Is your delivery safe? cook at home, limited outing
- Use appliances, save effort, and labour costs.
The world will be a very different place till there is a universal vaccine or the fear psychosis is not overcome. 2008 saw the rise of the technology equipped blue collar worker, Post Cover 19 will see the rise of the white collared professional forced into self sustaining entrerenurship. Some projected changes:
- Attitudes will change towards the app based services.
- The job market will be forever lower, with even less money.
- There would be a shortening of supply chains. – Globalization is under threat.
- Management would be a dying art, the rise of the entrepreneurship would be fundamental
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4 年Very thoughtful & unique article. Yes, you are right and impact shall be there for couple of years, but may not end the sharing economy! Some of vitals shall be population, need and job creation pressure on governments across the world.
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4 年All of a sudden .... “ Sharing is no more Caring”