#684 – Where Our Jobs Come From
Posted on | The AgurbanWe have shared a number of pieces from Don Macke with the Center for Rural Entrepreneurship over the years. His recent piece, Where Our Jobs Come From, is a real eye-opener! Check out the highlights below.
Where Our Jobs Come From – Making entrepreneurship a priority
Don Macke, Center for Rural Entrepreneurship, April 2018
Between 2006 and 2016, the most recent decade of data, the American economy created 48 million net new jobs (point to point comparison) representing a 31% increase in jobs over this period. A solid 95% of all these net new jobs (46 million) were created by Stage 1 (2-9 employees) and Stage 2 (10-99 employees) ventures. This includes for-profit, non-profit, and governmental enterprises. Nearly all our new jobs are coming from smaller ventures!
Stage 3 ventures (100-499 employees) saw positive growth adding 2.6 million jobs (the other 5%) while the largest employers (Stage 4 – 500+ employees) continued to shed jobs with a net loss of one million jobs between 2006 and 2016. The story behind this job loss is complex. Many of these ventures are doing fine. They are creating fewer or cutting jobs as they get more productive, adopt automation and outsource some aspects of production either within the US or globally. While off-shoring and automation can eliminate jobs or change the kinds of jobs available in our economies, some outsourcing strategies actually create entrepreneurial opportunities. Depending on the research, over the next generation, from a third to half of all workers will be self-employed and part of this outsourced economy. Transformative trends are always painful, but the silver lining is increased entrepreneurship opportunity.
We love entrepreneurs! It is reassuring to see that entrepreneurship is alive and well! Are you supporting your local entrepreneurs? They could be your largest new job creator.