About twenty years ago, I asked the neighbor girl about her plans, and with sparkling eyes, she told me she wanted to be a DJ. Her school grades weren't impressive, she wasn't particularly talented or diligent, so I wondered what would become of this child when faced with reality—likely ending up with some factory job or working as a store clerk. Two years ago we met accidentally, she was corresponding with me on behalf of a funeral service company. It turned out she had a child very early on and has been working there since; there was no music career.
Today, I read that 36% of young Hungarians want to be influencers, and this is simultaneously understandable, horrifying, and frightening. Understandable, because they practically live significant parts of their lives online, watching numerous seemingly successful influencers daily. The lifestyle, the money, and the glamour are attractive. However, they don’t see the reality of the masses who fail to reach the top.
Horrifying, because some influencers, in order to stay relevant, promote highly questionable values and problematic norms. I’m thinking, for example, of the “wife” who regularly appears nearly naked, making bras as outerwear completely acceptable for a certain age group.
There are good examples, of course. Recently, I heard a snippet of an interview with Taylor Swift, where she was asked about success. She said she enjoys it for five seconds a day and spends the rest of the time WORKING to make it last as long as possible. I’m not a Swiftie, but the persona she has built for the public is sympathetic to me in many ways. She could be a good or at least a better role model than the earlier lady.
Finally, the frightening part, which brings this topic here. What will we do with these kids in the world of work? They will enter the workforce fundamentally disappointed because their lives didn’t go in the desired direction. The realistic wages and working conditions will only increase their disappointment. They will become factory workers, or in a lucky case, learn a trade, but they will not want to be where they can get a job. They will struggle with the eight-hour workday, expectations, deadlines, rules, and often even with how to exist in a real life community outside the online world. We will struggle with them because we were socialized in a very different world.
I haven't come across many articles dealing with this topic, specifically related to non-highly qualified beginners. If you know of any, I would be grateful if you could share them. We won't be able to fundamentally reform the world of work within a few years, and the problem is already here and growing. What can we do about it? To put it even more practically: how can we produce quality work with motivated employees 15 years from now?
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