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Show of hands, for those of you who are content creators, Twitch streamers, artists, bloggers, etc. How many times have you been told to get a ‘real’ job?
You wanna know how I would answer them? ‘What do you mean a real job?” a job where I need permission to attend a funeral? A job where I need permission to take time off? A job where I am treated like crap? A job where I am paid pennies? A job where basic human rights like going to the bathroom is somehow a crime? (look at the conditions at an Amazon warehouse) A real job that could fire me for calling out sick?
A job where I have to work 2 jobs just to live? You gotta be more clear on what you mean. Back in 2018 when I couldn’t get my mom to understand why I chose to work for myself, she said the YouTubers she watches also have “real” jobs/or used to have “real” jobs. Just because someone isn’t working for pennies doesn’t mean what they are doing is not a real job. Content creation takes a lot of skill-building.
I get you need to let them know you are taking time off so they can properly plan, and not just bounce and leave them short-handed, but employers can deny your vacation. My friend is in the Navy, he let his boss know beforehand to put in for a temp leave and it was denied. So in other words, a ‘real’ job is working for someone who chooses whether or not you can have time off. I saw someone tweet back in 2018 that their manager denied their vacation and made them cancel their NON REFUNDABLE trip.
Places are having a shortage of workers because no one wants to work in poor conditions, treated like dirt by patrons or management. No one wants to work for someone with zero empathy when a loved one dies. It’s like these employers play Survivor, but backwards eliminate the ‘weak’, and keep the strong. To them, people who need time off, who get sick, etc are weak. I assume the people who previously worked quit for a job that makes them happy. If I was an employer, people were quitting like flies, no one wanted to work for me, I’d ask myself what I could do to make people wanna work for me. I’d ask myself what I am doing that’s making people quit on me and hold myself accountable.
Notice how companies that pay their employees their worth and treat them right don’t face shortages. Notice how companies with healthy work environments aren’t facing shortages. If those companies are getting workers and you’re not that should tell you something.
I saw the rib joint closed at NOON due to shortages. Other times I went the manager was the only one there. COVID was a huge wake-up call to a lot of folks that unless you make your own job, no job is guaranteed. While you call people on unemployment lazy perhaps some of them were taking the time they were out of work to study new skills and probably found freelance work.
Employers, instead of complaining no one wants to work for you and pulling the lazy card, maybe look into the way you treat and pay your workers is why. I wouldn’t wanna work for you either if you strip me of human rights(going to the bathroom is a human right, fight me! Looking at you Amazon), pay me slave wages, decide if I can go on vacation, could fire me for calling in sick, offering no sick days/little off days, etc
People want jobs where they don’t have to choose between rent or food. People want jobs where they don’t need food stamps to eat. People want jobs where they don’t have to choose between going to work sick (this could also be why COVID is so bad) or losing their jobs.
Also, the job market changed and it’s harder to get a job now. Especially for younger folks with no experience. It costs money to get a job. The 100 dollars or more I’d spend on gas or public transit getting to work could go towards food or a bill. The money you spend on Uber getting to work could be saved for something else. Certain car insurance policies charge you by the mile. Imagine the mileage for your normal errands and work pilling up making your insurance costly,
Just because places are hiring does NOT mean they will jump and hire everyone applying. I don’t know why people assume because a place is hiring means you can just walk in and get hired. The shortage could also mean; that those who want to work don’t work there.
YouTube is not a get-rich-quick scheme. It will take time and effort to build your channel.
It seems like folks only class a job as 9-5. My mom thought ‘real’ jobs were so safe and secure. Then the new normal hit and many people lost their jobs. This shows us no job is safe. If someone is making money honestly, and if they have to pay taxes, then it’s a job. YouTube does make you pay taxes if you make enough. I make money from my Cryptocurrency platforms and Coinbase has a way for me to file for taxes if I make over 600 dollars. That sounds like a job to me if I gotta pay taxes. My mom said she wanted me to experience that and think a 9-5 is the only way. When being self-employed, you have to pay taxes still. While being self-employed, you still have responsibilities. If someone needs a blog article, they want something nice and clean.
Also, if I know I got 300 from my blog, I need to spend responsibly.
Even if there wasn’t a pandemic, the job can fire you, the company can go under, the company can move and you can’t afford to move. Not everyone has a car and has to take Uber or the bus. The company can move further and Uber would be too expensive and the bus doesn’t go out that far. Even if you can, you can’t jump and move, you need to research the location and stuff that cannot be done on a dime. In the blink of an eye, thousands of people’s jobs were gone due to the pandemic. Some places could not survive due to restrictions like having fewer people in the store than normal. My mom thinks 9-5 jobs are so safe, you’re guaranteed benefits, a paycheck, etc. But how long do you have to be at the company to get benefits? You have to pray you will last long enough at the job to get benefits. If you lose your job you will lose your benefits and you’ve got nothing. At least being self-employed, you can build a stable income and put away medical insurance and stuff.
I’m sure the people working those ‘safe jobs’ would take what I am doing, although my earnings fluctuate, they would take that over the constant fear of getting fired and being homeless if they cannot get another job in time. It’s easier to get a job while employed than while unemployed.
I get so tired of this “real job” argument. My mom thinks I am stubborn because she thinks I don’t want to get a job that will pay me scaps, a job that can fire me when they want to, etc when I want to take time to improve my content and my skills so then content creation can be a full-time gig. I’m learning that no job is safe. Everyone thought they were safe. Before anyone expected it, all non-essential places had to close. It’s not that we’re lazy and don’t want to work. It’s just we are learning that life is too short to miss out. You’re working all the time because your boss is too cheap to pay you a living wage. And everyone is taking the time to study new skills and find something that makes them happy. In my mom’s eyes, she classes a job as something that makes you miserable. This day, we are learning that your job should be something you wanna go to every day, not something that makes you wanna crash your car so you don’t have to go to work.
YouTube, Twitch, this blog, and my crypto sites; are still here. While those ‘safe’ jobs in my mom’s eyes, poof! My mom and I come from different times. It’s just we’re learning that what people are glamorizing is unacceptable. If someone is working 40 hours a week and still struggling to live, that shows that employers refuse to pay a living wage. No one should be treated like crap for a check. These folks deserve to be treated with respect.
Work smart, not hard.
That’s what I am trying to get across. Making content for my blog platforms makes me happy, I wanna do it every day. I wanna share my gift with the world.
My mom may never understand why and how working from home helps me. The only person that’s inside my head is me.
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