In the midst of the dislocation, disruption and disintermediation, this chart shows the state of our world. A LinkedIn user shared it. No matter what you do, there needs to be alignment and realignment to retain the new demand-supply equilibrium framework, within a new economic architecture, where marginal cost is tending towards zero, and unlocking new domains in commerce.
Sure, when market frictions are solved at near-zero marginal cost, because of technology, not many humans will find lots of jobs therein. Simply, the rate of labour dislocation will be faster than new labour created because digital systems are never efficient in transfer of value from the meatspace to the digital space.
Yes, the money Skype destroyed for MTN and Glo did not show up in Skype bank accounts – you simply kept your money. And that means MTN may not hire more even as Skype does not need to hire also. Of course you can spend that “saved” money but the jobs it will create cannot compensate for the paralysis Skype has caused on broad telecom sector.
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Making it practical – WhatsApp had only 15 engineers when it sold for $19 billion. The total value of the Nigerian Stock Market is less than $33 billion. Now look at the value created with total of less than 30 people and the amalgam of tens of thousands of people working in NSE companies, from Dangote to GTBank. Simply, as digital systems advance, labour paralysis will get more severe. We need to have plans for same in Africa. JP Morgan Chase has a plan as noted below.
JPMorgan this morning will announce plans to give $350 million over five years to support global workforce training programs. CEO Jamie Dimon said the program will focus on removing “the stigma of a community college and career education” and support “opportunities to upskill or reskill workers.” As we’ve written before in this space, training for the future of work is one of the great challenges facing our generation. Good to see more businesses stepping up to address it. (Fortune newsletter)
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The insights on the image are invaluable, bringing fine and diverse perspectives about our ever-changing world.
Educational institutions will play even more important role going forward, because as nature of work keeps changing, people need to learn, unlearn and relearn; to be able to do what the ‘new order’ requires.
The interesting thing about market is that as we are providing solutions to problems, more complex problems are being created, and so they need solutions as well. The world can never be perfect, therefore, there remains boundless opportunities to create and amass wealth.
There will always be challenges facing humans, so as long as you make yourself relevant and useful, there is a role for you. Learning and adaptation will do the magic!
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