An Interview with a Vampire and Jobs
I was motivated to write this note by an interview that I had with a 'Vampire' cab driver recently. He drives the night shift and keeps 'vampire' hours. Let's call him Mr V.
Mr V is a former GM of a manufacturing company that had worked in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and the Middle East. He consistently puts in 12-14 hour days and spends his drive time thinking about how he can get efficiencies in driving, cleaning, and customer acquisition for his cab.
Mr V said that he has been meeting more and more Uber/Grab drivers who are young graduates with little to no work experience. In discussing with these fellow 'drivers', he said that many of them had options to do entry level jobs in manufacturing companies or Singapore Small and Medium Enterprises(SMEs), but that these individuals chose to drive for Uber/Grab instead.
Mr V said the starting pay of an Uber/Grab driver was pretty competitive and he could understand why a young job seeker balancing the available options, would choose to drive. Beyond a starting salary which is similar to an entry level job at a manufacturing company or SME, the Uber/Grab driver also gets the use of a car, which is quite special in Singapore.
His question to me was, "what happens in 5 years when car/cab driving is automated?" What jobs will these individuals do? What will they tell potential future employers when all they have on their CV is that they drove for Uber/Grab after graduating from college/polytechnic? His further question, was what would the government be able to do, to find jobs for such people?
As a frequent Uber/Grab user, I can echo Mr V's comments. I have indeed been meeting drivers who are younger and well educated. Many of them have other employment options, but have chosen to drive. While I understand that Millenials need freedom and flexibility, Mr V's questions got me thinking.
Is the impact of the gig economy something that we should watch more closely? Beyond the benefits of disruptive business models and better utilization of spare capacity; have we been thinking hard enough about the longer term economic impact of the gig economy - especially as it relates to labor or economic competitiveness? Will young and qualified participants in the gig economy today, become zombie workers tomorrow - without real skills or job prospects?
Is this rumination just "old fashioned" Singapore thinking - that the government needs to look out for its people and take steps to maintain labor or economic competitiveness?
Surely time will tell. Happy 2017 ahead.
#UnintendedConsequence #TechnologyImpact #JobsEconomy
Chief Business Officer | Changing Kidney Care | ex-Cardinal Health | ex-CareFusion
8 年I have run into a few such fresh graduates and all of them said that they are driving uber for the time being while they figure out what they want to do next. In a way I find it encouraging that the younger generation is willing to take a break from the rat race to figure out what they would really like to do in their careers. And the gig economy (uber) is supporting them in the meantime. May be another way of looking at it...
Executive Vice President Head - Hitech and Microsoft Vertical Geo Head - Hyderabad, Telangana
8 年Abel - You raised a very pertinent question of the times we would be living in. The same would apply to several other professions most prominently IT. Organization's are implementing/contemplating to leverage of NextGen revolutionary models that will significantly impact non-specialized/non-niche skilled professionals. On the same token, professionals also need to re-invent themselves and make themselves relevant to the times. Change is imminent .
Intercultural and International Management and Communication, ESG, Global Business Ethics, Strategy, Business Process, Turnarounds, Mergers & Acquisitions
8 年Mr V and you are spot on I think. But on the positive side these drivers seem to have the flexibility and adaptability to do a job that they were not trained to do. This will be very important in the future. The safety of having started with a traditional job in a large company is illusional I think.
PhD, PMP, AWS Certified | Techie & Educator | Software Architect & Engineer
8 年The good thing about the Singapore government is that there is some level of shared planning for the future. For example, CPF. Good organizations have HR departments that map out career progression and capability development. These functions are expensive and are best shared. (The really "good" can do their own customizations, of course.) In the gig economy, there is no such "HR department" doing the shared thinking. I believe it is time for the government to take the mollycoddling of citizens up a notch. Build a national competency framework in collaboration with industry. Map out progression through verifiable capabilities. Build a verification function (expensive, but this is a big problem). Those who cannot or will not think for themselves, at least there will be paths of lower resistance to staying relevant in the economy. Furthermore, the whole project can make thing even easier by providing visibility on the jobs economy. People can choose less crowded domains to invest their capability development time in. etc. etc. etc. Chuan-Jin Tan: Wanted to chat with you about this while you were at MOM.