You, Inc.

U.S. News & World Report, October 28, 1996.

Then the young librarian was laid off three times. She switched to technical writing--and lost her fourth job, too. So Argus has quit trying to follow her father's path, and knows she's better off for it. Working from her home in East Palo Alto, Calif., she now handles technical writing assignments for several clients, distributes children's books and is training to be a "personal coach," a kind of counselor-cheerleader-consultant who advises people on how to order and balance their lives. Her income as a miniconglomerate? At about $37,000 for the first nine months of this year, it's running nearly as high as it was when she worked for someone else. Says Argus: "My goal is to never have a 9-to-5 job again."

At least as remarkable is the story of Marion Manigo-Truell, a veritable poster child for the six-career era. She has switched fields that many times and gone back to school an equal number. At 51, after stints in banking, hotel marketing and investor relations, Manigo-Truell is now on a temporary assignment with Andersen Consulting in New York, coordinating conference and special-events planning. "Every time I've changed jobs I've moved into a better position and received a better salary," she says.

America has leapt headlong into the information age, and our careers will never be the same. "We are in the midst of a historical transition in the way work is organized and carried out," says Thomas Malone, a professor in the Sloan School of Management at MIT. As technology allows companies to accomplish more with fewer people--and as it transforms the way work happens in virtually every discipline--millions of people will find themselves working for "one-person companies," he says. Many who are cut loose, like Argus, will literally strike out on their own. But even those with full-time jobs will increasingly be lone rangers within their companies, traveling from one project to the next, working alone and in virtual teams, rarely settling into one long-term position. At no time in modern history have so many workers been so totally reliant on their own wits and resources to thrive.

Although the digital revolution has clearly unsettled many, workers with vision are already capitalizing on the same advances that helped precipitate massive corporate restructurings. The new technologies have given one-person companies the power to accomplish tasks once handled by flocks of folks in big organizations, and they have granted employees new flexibility--to telecommute, for example. The upshot: You Inc. may be the fastest-growing employment segment in the economy. According to a new poll conducted for U.S. News and Bozell Worldwide by KRC Research & Consulting, 55 percent of Americans want to be their own boss. The number of people starting new businesses shot up from 609,812 in 1984 to 819,477 last year, according to the Small Business Administration, which counts new filings for employee identification numbers. A new report by the National Federation of Independent Business suggests those numbers are way too low: Its survey found evidence that 5 million people had started 3.5 million businesses last year.

By choice or circumstance, newcomers have flooded the temporary work force. Some 2.3 million temps now head off to work each day, twice the number of four years ago. While many are struggling in low-paying jobs, a growing number are highly educated professionals who relish the chance to pick their projects (story, Page 80). And 7 million people now telecommute at least one day a week, up from about 4 million five years ago.

Nonentrepreneurs like Manigo-Truell are left to create their own opportunities, too. People need to invest in their development as if they were a corporation, says Anthony Carnevale, chairman of the National Commission for Employment Policy at the Department of Labor. That certainly means ongoing education: Three in 10 respondents to the U.S. News/Bozell survey said they had taken a course in the past year to learn a new skill for their jobs; 2 in 10 had taken a computer course. It might mean looking for and filling a void that technology has created in one's company--who will design and feed the inevitable Web site? And it could mean a move, or several of them.

You Inc. workers with computer know-how have a reach today unimaginable only a couple of years ago. Using the Internet, a rural lawyer with a solo practice and rudimentary library can pull up virtually any state, federal or Supreme Court ruling with a few mouse clicks; a consultant can research a prospective client's needs before going after the job. The owner of a small bed and breakfast can market her operation globally by setting up a World Wide Web page and networking online through travel forums (story, Page 87). Meanwhile, muscular new hardware and software allow a lone businessperson to face off with large competitors (story, Page 84). Need to "meet" with clients in distant locations? Compaq offers a desktop PC featuring videoconferencing capabilities. The next generation of cellular phones, due out next year, will send faxes and E-mail and also let you browse the Web on its built-in screen while you wait to catch a plane.

Ammo for the hunt. For career changers, the Internet provides instant information on thousands of potential employers. When Manigo-Truell was preparing to interview for her job at Andersen Consulting, a visit to the firm's Web site informed her about its just completed study on the hospitality industry. "I was able to talk like an insider," she says.

Who will not enjoy the benefit of all these riches? Those who lack the technical skills, resources and psychological fortitude to go it alone. For many Americans, a powerful computer remains out of reach, as does a stint back in college. Older workers raised on the expectation of a lifetime job are likely to be struggling emotionally and financially. "I will never get used to this," says George Kaspar, 58, who five years ago lost his job as a vice president of a large New York bank because of a merger. After 25 years in the banking industry, Kaspar was forced to take up consulting, and although he can make $600 a day advising companies on the purchase of computer hardware and software, months go by with no work. He has dipped heavily into his retirement savings and had to take out a second mortgage on his house to pay for his daughter's medical school tuition. "I thought I had this great, secure job that would last until I retired. Now I doubt I'll ever be able to retire," says Kaspar.

On the opposite end of the spectrum are the young upstarts who grew up in an age that worships entrepreneurs. The U.S. News/Bozell poll found younger people more enamored of change than their older counterparts. Forty-six percent of those under 50 showed a strong inclination to embrace change compared with just 28 percent who were 50 and older.

They are people like Bill Kimberlin, 29, who started his first venture while still in college--a real-estate firm that failed after two years. Kimberlin is constantly on the prowl for business opportunities in Nashville, his hometown. When he heard that a large clothing manufacturer had 70,000 pairs of irregular jeans sitting in its factory, he called and asked if he could sell them. After three months of working the phones and making the rounds, he sold all 70,000 pairs to mom and pop stores. Today, Kimberlin's OBJ Marketing Corp. is a $1.5 million enterprise that resells the irregulars of several jeans manufacturers. Kimberlin also operates a $2 million recording studio on Nashville's Music Row and a limousine service. Recently, when he had a chance to buy a property that contained coal, Kimberlin automatically logged on to the Internet to learn everything he could about the coal business. He became an instant expert. He quickly found out that the type of coal on the property was difficult to mine and market, and passed on the deal.

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"Love the variety." On a whim, Argus went to a multimedia conference and let companies know she was either available for a full-time job or could handle technical writing for their products on a contract basis. A few months later, Time Warner Electronic Publishing commissioned her to write manuals for several CD-ROMs. As more jobs came in--including one from her former employer, Dialog (now Knight-Ridder Information Inc.)--Argus gained confidence. For extra income, she signed on as an independent distributor of primarily children's books for the Dorling Kindersley Family Library. "I love the variety of work and I love not going into an office," she says.

But there are complications. When her husband, Scott, lost his job as an electronics technician, the couple had to cover health insurance premiums of over $300 a month themselves. Although he is now back at work, the constant job changing (Scott has also been laid off four times) has left them with little retirement savings. Says Peggy: "I try not to think about retirement."

To experts studying the new workplace, Argus represents both the potential and the pitfalls of the current job market: the potential for flexibility, more challenging work and freedom from the whims of a single employer; the pitfalls of uncertain and fluctuating wages and no steady source of benefits. Being left to their own resources for health and retirement benefits is a major concern for huge numbers of Americans. The U.S. News/Bozell poll found that 83 percent are worried about affording a comfortable retirement and 81 percent are concerned they won't be able to get the health care they need.

Without support. MIT's Malone is struck by the absence of a support system for independent contractors, professional temps, entrepreneurs, telecommuters and people who work at home. He believes that common-interest groups like trade associations and unions will begin to play a much bigger role in people's lives to help compensate for the lack of financial security and sense of community once granted by employers. Malone envisions the creation of professional "guilds" that offer everything from volleyball teams to health and unemployment insurance and retirement plans. Already, trade associations and chambers of commerce are providing reduced-rate health insurance plans to members. In the past few years, several states have begun requiring health insurers with less expensive managed care plans to offer them to "groups" as small as one. Recently passed federal health care legislation limits the degree to which employees can be penalized by pre-existing conditions when they change jobs or switch to individual health plans. And new federal rules enacted this month by the Clinton administration make it easier for employees to roll over 401(k) savings when they start a new job.

Through special events and discussion groups, trade associations are also providing lonely workers camaraderie beyond the daily visit from the mail carrier. "It's very important for me just to have a human body to talk to," says Leslie Seabrook, 47, a risk manager for a Seattle chemical distribution company who started telecommuting from her home outside Annapolis, Md., when her husband was transferred four years ago. Desperate for the companionship of other professionals, she started attending meetings of the local chapter of the Risk and Insurance Management Society. The Internet can also be a source of companionship. One new Web site called About Work (http://www.aboutwork.com) features discussion of such topics as handling the kids while working at home, setting up home offices, writing business plans and changing careers.

Corporations are increasingly using their muscle to give independent workers a better shot at success. As more companies recognize the benefits of telecommuting on the bottom line, for example, they are devising ways to combat employees' isolation and to better manage scattered workers. Three years ago, American Express took away the offices of its field sales staff and put them in "virtual offices" at home and in their cars, outfitted with laptop computers, cellular phones and pagers. At the same time, the company mandated regular Monday morning conference calls between branch sales staffs and their managers, monthly social events at hotels and a buddy system in which each sales associate teamed up with another to share ideas and commiserate through E-mail or over the phone. With workers spending less time in offices and more time selling, sales calls at American Express have jumped 40 percent.

The self-employed, too, can often fare better on their own if they turn to others for brain power and business connections. Phillip Wnuk, 32, an independent advertising consultant in Chicago, created a network through the Internet of freelance designers, photographers and printers that allows him to get campaigns to clients with the expertise and efficiency of a much larger agency. If Wnuk is working on a brochure for a client, he E-mails the copy to a designer in the network who creates the graphics on his computer. The brochure then goes onto Wnuk's Web site, where clients, using a password, can review it.

A temporary solution. Wnuk isn't shy about seeking help wherever he can find it--so he turns to a temporary-employment firm during dry spells. Professional temps like Wnuk, a fast-growing breed, now collect 20 percent of the $7.6 billion industry payroll, according to the National Association of Temporary and Staffing Services. Wnuk estimates that about 25 percent of his business comes through such a firm, including a recent assignment handling the radio advertising campaign for a grocery store chain. Wnuk, who charges between $75 and $125 an hour, says he is making double his last salary at a midsize ad agency four years ago.

These are, indeed, the glory days for many workers. Mick Galvin, for one, is no longer bitter about being a downsizing victim. If anything, he is thankful. A specialist in helping companies hook up computer and voice-mail systems, Galvin, 44, started doing contract work when he was laid off four years ago by Digital Equipment Corp. He is now on a long-term assignment with MCI in Dallas and has turned down several offers there for full-time positions--taking one would mean a 40 percent pay cut from his current income of $100,000 to $140,000. He isn't lured, either, by the security of a staff position. "There are no stable, full-time jobs anymore," Galvin says. And he's not sure that's such a bad thing.

BY AMY SALTZMAN

U.S. News & World Report, October 28, 1996.