Look. Almost no one was there. (Screenshot from Microsoft video.) Chris Matyszczyk / Screenshot
When tech companies started telling the truth, something happened.
Or rather, go down.
If they need to bare their souls, utter words of despair and sound the gong of misery, you really have to worry about the perilous state of the world.
So it is hearing dire, desperate prognoses emerging from Microsoft.
No, the company is not worried that Surface will never become the computer, laptop, tablet or whatever is supposed to rule the world. Microsoft worries that it won’t have enough people to do so.
This is not some COVID-induced kvetching about the so-called Great Resignation.
Instead, as President of Microsoft, Brad Smith told ReutersThis is the fear that Microsoft may have to pay employees a lot of money.
Oh, I overlooked a bit when I said that.
You see, he worries that the number of people who want a job is dwindling. This means companies have to bow and try to hire and retain.
One of the best ways to do that is to pay employees a lot of money. Probably not the best, of course. Companies would rather pay employees the minimum possible for maximum production.
But if more employees than ever were able to pick and choose where they work – and by how much – then the problem could become big.
Smith explains that the number of newcomers entering the working population – and expanding it – is gradually becoming less.
“That helps partly explain why you might have a low growth rate and a labor shortage at height,” he said.
There are many reasons why modern adults decide to have fewer children. Some may have to do with the fact that corporations have used their power to reap huge profits for too long, at the expense of providing a sufficient quality of life.
Many families are forced to have two breadwinners in the family. The government also discourages the production of children. If you don’t even get paid maternity leave, why would you have the three kids that corporations need you to have to keep their labor costs down?
So imagine Smith drawing the future.
Also: Microsoft has studied what makes employees truly happy. A surprising result
No one wants a career at any company – not even at Microsoft. As Smith himself admits, companies will likely have to pay employees more and more. Competition for qualified employees will be fiercer than ever.
As for employees, why would they want a career anywhere when they can end up making big money in a short amount of time and take a few months or even years off? Even more exciting for them, if they can pick and choose the kind of work they want within the kinds of companies they want, they might end up feeling productive – and maybe even happy – without don’t feel sad.
I’m afraid to mention LIV Golf at this point, but I’m feeling weak. If you’ve missed this phenomenon, here’s a new golf tour that only pays golfers to show up, give them bigger prize money, make tournaments shorter and fulfill their need for more time, oh, who knows, making more money creating their own brands of whiskey and hunting apparel.
LIV Golf is funded by the government of Saudi Arabia. However, its principles are still applicable to the corporate job market for decades to come.
Why take the risk? Why work for bosses you don’t like? Why spend your life working when you can do other things without worry? Why not get paid, really, just for or more, say, a year or two?
That’s a real conundrum for companies.
And of course, that’s why many people invest so much in robots.
Robots don’t want vacations, kids, and big pay raises.
At least not yet.
