Beware of the faux job reports!

"Is there a golden fleece out there, or is it all gloom and doom? I believe those who are cleaver, nimble and ambitious will find that pot of gold. Those who are not, will need to learn how to get by on some kind of GNI (Guaranteed National Income)." 

Last month's job report is out, and the corks are popping all over (with some folks)! But what does these new jobs report really tell us? That we added more jobs than expected, so our unemployment rate ticked down a bit. Or - did it? The U6 unemployment rate (boy, it has been a while since I have addressed the U6!), showed the actual unemployment rate went up to 8%. Why does this matter? Because if you get frustrated with finding a job, and just drop out, nobody counts you for anything. That is, except for the U6 unemployment rate. 8% of the people in this country who could work and are not working - is a big number.

Did you hear about Oracle? Larry Ellison, one of the richest people of the world and owner of Oracle, just axed 30,000 via an email this past week. Right before Easter. Why does this matter? Microsoft also just laid off 6,000 employees. And Alphabet, parent company of Google is in the process of laying off 2,500 employees. These are companies which have always had huge growth potential. And they will keep growing - only with less human employees and more AI infusion.

As we continue through this decade, buckle up. Many jobs are going to become more tenuous and temporary. Jobs which were once believed to be unreplaceable, will be replaced by automation. Sorry - this is the brave new world. This is going to become a much bigger problem as we slide into 2030. Will there be jobs out there? Some, yes - and good paying ones at that. But they will be niche jobs that require a certain type of expertise and training. The kind of jobs we are not educating our young folks for.

Anybody who has either owned a business or did the financials for a business, knows this immutable fact - human employees are expensive and messy. Messy? They need time off for maternity. Time off for military. Time off for being sick. Vacation. They only work between 40 - 50 hours per week. The list goes on and on. Automated jobs on the other hand, don't take lunch breaks. No vacations. No sick leave. No raises needed. Bottom line? To stay competitive in our brave new world, will cut as much expense as possible out of the workforce, while still being more effective and efficient every quarter. That will be the key to success. 

We need to stop preparing and training for yesterday's jobs. We need to break out the crystal ball and really focus on where the human jobs will be tomorrow. Next year. Five years from now. We need to think long term and short term at the same time. Is there a golden fleece out there, or is it all gloom and doom? I believe those who are cleaver, nimble and ambitious will find that pot of gold. Those who are not, will need to learn how to get by on some kind of GNI (Guaranteed National Income).