----- Original Message ----- From: Gary Chapman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, April 17, 2000 12:17 PM Subject: L.A. Times column, 4/17/00 > Friends, > > Below is my Los Angeles Times column for today, Monday, April 17, > 2000. As always, please feel free to pass this on, but please retain > the copyright notice. > > Not much news to report here. The weather is beautiful, school is > winding down, tonight we're going to see Bruce Springsteen (my 18th > Springsteen concert -- I know, I know, I have a problem!). > > The column below was written before last week's "Black Friday" > meltdown of the stock market, but it seems more relevant given that > tremor. Although I didn't much care for the Times' headline, over > which I have no control. > > Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying a marvelous spring, like we > are here in Austin. > > Best, > > -- Gary > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > ------------------------------------------ > > If you have received this from me, Gary Chapman > ([EMAIL PROTECTED]), you are subscribed to the listserv > that sends out copies of my column in The Los Angeles Times and other > published articles. > > If you wish to UNSUBSCRIBE from this listserv, send mail to > [EMAIL PROTECTED], leave the subject line blank, and put > "Unsubscribe Chapman" in the first line of the message. > > If you received this message from a source other than me and would > like to subscribe to the listserv, the instructions for subscribing > are at the end of the message. > > DO NOT REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE -- the listserv is set up to reject > replies to the sending address. You must use the command address, > [EMAIL PROTECTED], to either subscribe or unsubscribe, or > use the address [EMAIL PROTECTED] to send back comments. > > ------------------------------------------ > > DIGITAL NATION > > Monday, April 17, 2000 > > "Dot-Com" Energy May Be Doomed to Fizzle Into Midlife Stagnation > > By Gary Chapman > > Copyright 2000, The Los Angeles Times, All Rights Reserved > > In this election year, many Americans seem to be teetering between > the contentment of prosperity and anxiety due to a turbulent and > uncertain economy. Last week, the stock market was "groping for the > bottom," as one analyst put it, rattling the nerves of shareholders, > while at the same time an industry report predicted that more than a > million and a half jobs would be created in information technology > fields this year and that half of those would go unfilled. > > Most of my friends are now middle-aged, like me, and their careers > started well before the current Internet craze. They're watching the > "new economy" unfold with very mixed emotions. Some of them have > found or crafted interesting and stimulating careers, while others > are disappointed by where they find themselves now. > > A few of my friends' stories are good examples. The people below have > asked that their real names not be used, so I'm using pseudonyms. > > Angie has a doctorate in English and has worked for a couple of > decades as a journalist, author and magazine editor. Several years > ago it became apparent that the number of publications that would > publish her serious, probing articles were dwindling, and her income > was following suit. So she took a breather from the stresses of > freelancing by joining a small information services company as an > editor and writer. It was her first 9-to-5 job in a long time. > > "It started out as a nice place to work," she said, "with a real > family feeling. But then it was bought by a much larger company, and > things changed very quickly. > > "When the company was bought, the new parent company sent these two > guys down to our office for a pep talk -- they were like > cheerleaders, they had this dog-and-pony show. They were very slick, > but they didn't have a clue what we did or how their new acquisitions > fit together." She added, "Those two guys later got fired." > > The working environment went downhill from there, Angie said. The > parent company was clueless, she said, and the result was a series of > stern memos from the remote home office about new employee > requirements, new bosses and a new computer system that robbed the > editors and writers of their creative input and turned them into data > entry clerks. > > "Only the computer guys seemed to know what was going on," Angie > said. While the computer technicians fiddled with their database > program, the office's desktop computers crashed several times a day. > Morale started to sink and eventually layoffs and departures set in. > > Angie quit before things got worse. She looks back on the experience > as an example of what it must be like to work for an information > company, and she doesn't want to be part of that world again. > > Bob is an exploration geologist for a large oil company, with > advanced degrees from Stanford and 18 years in the business. His > personal horrors are the serial management fads that sweep through > his company, which has been sagging in stock market value, market > share and employee morale. > > "The latest phrase is 'asset teams,' " he said with contempt. "No one > knows what that means, but everyone has to get on board and get with > this latest new program. They sent a team of guys with Power Point > slides to tell us all about it, but no one understood it. We've seen > it before -- in another six months, it will be something else." Bob > thinks these fads are a sign of desperation, and of managers cooking > up reasons for the company to keep them. > > He also thinks the upper management of his company is incompetent and > is manipulating the company's finances to "loot" the cash flow -- > with executive perks, bonuses and stock options -- while the firm > itself stagnates. > > Bob is going to give the company another year or two to improve > before he bails out. He doesn't know what he's going to do after that > because employment in the rapidly consolidating oil business is > sinking fast. > > John, who holds a doctorate in chemical engineering, has already > faced that problem. He's been laid off from his job with a Los > Angeles oil company. Getting another job in this industry is nearly > impossible, and starting in a new industry is very difficult. "We're > so specialized, it's a nightmare," he said. There are jobs for > chemical engineers in pharmaceuticals or semiconductors, but those > companies want either new graduates or people with years of > experience in exactly the same subfield, John said. He doesn't know > what he'll do. > > "Who's to blame? I don't know. I don't want to appear that I'm > blaming anyone," he said. > > Ray is an entrepreneur. He started the company Angie worked for. He's > doing well, as one might expect. But, he said, "I started my company > without borrowing money and without venture capital. It was a hard > row to hoe. Now I look at these new companies with all this money and > I have to ask, 'Did they earn this?' When you fly these days, the > first-class section seems awfully young." > > Ray said, "The sense of entitlement among the young today is in for a > rude awakening. Sooner or later business fundamentals kick in, and > then you have to work really hard just to survive. The world view of > young workers now is based on this very limited experience." > > Middle-aged people are prone to self-reflection and self-assessment, > as in the cliche of the midlife crisis. They also seem inclined to > view the energy, idealism and naivete of younger generations with > some skepticism and annoyance. This is a pattern that must be as old > as the human species itself. > > But younger people should regard stories such as those of my friends > with the perspective that this is likely to be their future too. My > friends began with the same high hopes and naive faith in the future > that is common among the young, hip and affluent urban workers of the > new economy. > > And just as it was hard for our elders and our parents to explain to > us that the world wouldn't greet our youthful idealism with open > arms, we now find it difficult to explain to the young "dot-com" > generation that things don't always turn out like you plan. This is > especially worth remembering in the face of a looming dot-com > shakeout. > > Gary Chapman is director of the 21st Century Project at the > University of Texas at Austin. He can be reached at > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > ------------------------------------------ > > To subscribe to a listserv that forwards copies of Gary Chapman's > published articles, including his column "Digital Nation" in The Los > Angeles Times, send mail to: > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Leave the subject line blank. 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