Published in the San Diego Union-Tribune, April 22, 2024
by Neil Senturia
My wife, Barbara Bry, and I have eight grandchildren ages 3 to 10, including a set of identical twins. My beat is entrepreneurship, so now is clearly the time for us to start worrying about what they are going to do when they grow up. You know, what kind of job are they going to get? Can’t start coding and piano lessons too soon.
But it appears that getting a job is not going to be at the top of their list. Job, schmob, not in their lexicon. They are going to be “influencers.”
An article from CNBC said that “most young people today see social media influencing as a viable career.” Some 57 percent of Gen Zers said they would like to become an influencer if given the chance, according to Morning Consult, a decision intelligence company. And “41 percent of adults would also opt for this emerging career path.”
Since when did influencer become a job? And if everyone becomes an influencer, who is left to influence?
The report also said that 3 in 10 young people would “even pay to become an influencer.” Who needs to understand gross margin or cost to acquire a customer? Just do a TikTok on what tofu you like and watch the dollars roll in.
Why do young people want to be influencers?
“They can make money on their own time and do something fun.” Well, that answers that question.
If I can make a living giving advice about stuff I am buying and want other people to buy, so that I can get paid by the people who make the stuff, well, talk about the flywheel effect. You don’t even have to go into the office three days a week.
The study goes on, “More young people say their dream job is to become an online celebrity.”
If you can become famous for being famous, then you can influence other people who aspire to be famous.
Just take me out and shoot me.
To make this work, you need to become a celebrity or a famous athlete or already famous for something (other than mass murder). You also could just become famous for being famous and then you can influence other people who aspire to be famous. Do we have a bit of the blind leading the blind?
Think about this. Without TikTok, Instagram, etc., the whole social media thing breaks down. So maybe there is still a job for a computer scientist.
However, with the increased power of artificial intelligence, influencing is going to be inundated with fake influencers. You won’t be able to tell the players without a scorecard.
OK, stop for a moment. Reset. Let’s chat with James Heskett, professor at Harvard Business School. He writes about the “cycle of success” where companies carefully select employees and then train them for complex jobs, which results in higher employee retention and increased productivity. (I will clip that one for the grandchildren).
Shortly after his article appeared, he was inundated with responses, essentially saying “people don’t want to work anymore.”
But that is not quite true. Unemployment in America is approximately 3.8 percent. The Fed is not cutting rates so fast, the economy is booming. So there appears to be a mismatch.
I think the dichotomy is our understanding of the word “work” and who is going to do that work?
The true entrepreneur knows that the result will be magic if you create a team and a culture with a purpose and hire the best and brightest with appropriate compensation. Heskett uses the example of a three-star Michelin restaurant in Sonoma County.
Unfortunately, no good deed goes unpunished. I can only imagine that the famous chef will soon become an influencer, give up his toke, use AI to write his cookbook and make more money on social media without burning his fingers than he ever thought possible.
Maybe I can interest the kids in the harpsichord.
Rule No. 804: “Repent.” Leonard Cohen