The Useless Class Revolution

Someone who has a 30 year professional history uttered these words to me last week.

"I feel like I'm part of the useless class now."

They assumed they would never be able to find work because after two years of trying, they simply gave up and retired early.

But did they? This person has now created several businesses. None are profitable but most are posed to take advantage of a new reality emerging in front of us. Some members of the useless class see this. The large corporations that dominate our economy? Not so much.

Now I know what you're thinking:"The useless class? That is a mean label to give to people. Who are they? And why such a derogatory term?"

The useless class are made up of members of the creative class who have endured working temp and freelance gigs, seasonal work or for hire work for much of their lives. They understand what it is like to be part of a fluctuating labor force. Where everything is temporary. They are used to a pattern of being hired, getting laid off but dealing with short periods of time before finding new work.

They are skilled labor at a time where there is little demand for what they offer. Project managers. Marketers. Designers. They could climb into making six figure salaries as members of the Professional Managerial Class (PMCs) with their deep expertise in a particular set of labor.

No more.

This conglomerate of folks, made up primarily of younger new university graduates and many people over the age of 55 are the largest members of this class.

The useless class are the bookends of an economy that now only cares about the middle when it comes to age, but hates the middle when it comes to class.

And this is why things are so strange in our new normal economy.

While we live in a barbell economy where you have a large amount of big companies on one side, not many in the middle and a ton of small and solopreneurs on the other, much of who is making up the employed corporate workforce are middle age Millennials with either very senior titles or individual contributor titles.

Middle management has been carved out. And entry level seems to be gone too. And so the useless class is hanging around, kicking rocks, trying to find work or whatever the next opportunity might be. But one thing is certain and it could have a profound effect and impact on the business of corporations moving forward. Not everyone in the useless class will remain useless. This myth of many members of this class not understanding AI (not true) or not having the proper skills for adaptability in the 21st Century (not true either) is opening up opportunities for an entirely alternative parallel universe economy. One that is anti-corporate by design and entrepreneurial by nature. For some, it is about ensuring who they ultimately hire isn't treated like luggage on a Spirit Airlines flight and that people feel respect and have growth opportunities. The polar opposite of the environment we see in corporate America at the moment. One not really being watched admiringly by big business. And this could shake things up to the point where the big companies of now may not be able to navigate the future as well as we think.

The useless class may end up being truly disruptive to the ruling class. New services, new solutions, new models.

Why?

In ages of efficiency, you don't seek to offer the new or novel. You seek to grow through attrition. In this environment of austerity, every idea you could have implemented goes out the window in the name of cost savings. But in our world where we have access to so many tools, where the internet is finally coming of age to cause a "Do It Yourself" revolution, we don't need these big entities to get things off the ground. If there is one analogy that showcases where we are, it's that while the Boomer generation got the luxury of cheap real estate, the Gen Z generation has access to cheap business building tools.

We're seeing it play out in the business of media, live event promotion and even digital community. For every "big" entity there are countless independent alternatives. There is no mono-culture. As these indies carve slowly away at the dominant company market-share, there won't be many of those left either in a few years. If there are less public corporations to fill in this void? Well the whole world of financialization becomes irrelevant. The small companies of now are the dominant players of tomorrow. When you cast out people as not essential, they find unique ways to be relevant. This is what is happening right now while the mainstream business media ignores these stories to their peril.

The polar opposite of a greed is good power and profit rewards system lies ahead. But we need to move through a huge amount of choppy water to get there. This is the true uprising of our time. The suits in the ivory towers won't see it until its smack right in front of them. By then, it will be too late. Welcome to the new systems of power. Created by outcasts who don't fit into the profile of a perfect employee and can't be found by the Applicant Tracking Systems. Not that they even want to be at this point.

Outsiders rule the world right now. Not tech geeks. Not billionaires. Not influencers trending on social media. It's those of us in the shadows.

Iceberg ahead.