Wage Work is an Anomaly That's Peaked

Happy Friday,

For nearly all of human history, most people didn't “go to work” for someone else in the modern sense. They farmed family land, ran small enterprises, or worked as independent artisans and craftspeople. Working for someone else for wages was rare, often precarious, and rarely respected.

That changed dramatically 'a few weeks ago' during the Industrial Revolution. Factories, urbanization, and large-scale production created the modern wage-and-salary model. This ideal of stable lifetime employment peaked in the post-war decades through the 1970s.

Since then, the pendulum has been swinging back toward greater self-reliance. First, the internet enabled the gig economy and flexible independent work. And now, AI is accelerating the shift by dramatically dropping the barriers to entrepreneurship. What once required teams, offices, specialized staff, and heavy capital can now be handled by a reasonably skilled individual or a small group augmented by AI.

How should an engineering organization adjust? First, realize that your goal is to make 1+1=3, i.e., employees + clients = profit. Rather than losing your most entrepreneurial talent to start-up competitors or solo ventures, do the opposite: embrace the trend.

Support internal innovation, reward intrapreneurial thinking, and experiment with hybrid models, flexible roles, shared equity, spin-off opportunities, or "build alongside us" arrangements. Help your top performers create value internally rather than externally.

Punchline: A lifetime of wage employment can be rewarding and low-risk, but it's a very recent historical anomaly that's already peaked. Self-reliance has long been the human default. For those willing and able to make a bigger bet on themselves, AI is already your new best friend.

Have a great weekend!

Dave

Feedback and blowback are always welcome: dave@goodnewsfriday.com

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