National Trends: Self-Employed
Earlier I commented on what I was hearing from IECA Members about how they were doing in the current economic climate. Now new national figures are out which detail how the self-employed are fairing and while the news is not devastating, it is worthy of concern.
Over the last decade the number of self-employed has steadily risen to over 9 million. There is significant evidence that during down economies, those who are laid off from white collar jobs look at self-employment as a way to maintain their economic stability. We certainly see signs of that in the IECA office when we hear from admission counselors and guidance staff that are laid off and are exploring the field of consulting. The government, in tracking the entry of the newly self-employed into the workforce, examined how this–and the recession–was impacting the ability to make a living.
As reported in the New York Times this weekend, the number of self-employed who say they are working part-time because they can’t find enough work has doubled in the last year from 622,000 to 1.1 million, or roughly one out of every nine workers.
The bigger question is what will happen when the economy improves. Will full-employment return? The Times quotes MIT economist David Autor as suggesting that once the economy bounces back, many of these newly self-employed are likely to return to the nine to five workplaces they left behind, leaving the field to those who really WANT to be self-employed.
As I look at the IECA landscape, most of those exploring entry into consulting do not seem to be taking this path out of economic necessity, but rather were gently guided in a direction they were examining anyway. Let’s remember that the field of educational consulting has been in a steady growth pattern for nearly ten years. Evidence suggests that the public is becoming more aware of the field and more understanding of the value in working with a professional in their school or college selection. With this comes the opportunity to support growth in the field, as the public returns to hiring consultants in those communities where we’ve seen a decline, as the economy begins to strengthen.
IECA should and will provide whatever support it can, both to experienced members who are under-employed at present as well as those entering the field hoping to make a professional living, while serving students and families.
Posted by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, IECA
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