Second Innings
A thread I wrote on trap many in Pakistan are facing with rising costs & low opportunities to earn.
Recession & it’s Impact
Inflationary cycles affecting people & the inability to find a way to ⬆️ income is based on 2 factors
↔️unaware of the alternatives
↔️unable to move from age old paths
Mindset is key.
You can tell people who have relied on a monthly salary to hustle but how many can do it?
Technology
Over 40?
Do you fear technology? If your entire use of tech is build on some 2000s software & whatsapp, how do they use new tech to create a side hustle?
That knowledge gap is where you find people falling through the cracks.
Sure some will learn & live.
Learning as a Survival Tool
Half the threads here push you to content creation. Writing threads wont cut it.
Your ancient, outdated knowledge on a subject matter for eg physics won't let you create a science course on youtube or curriculum design.
It requires work. Leaning, learning.
They were right. Your current jobs will start becoming redundant.
Hustle Culture
I have in my dms requests for job seekers, mostly men who were earning 50-70k but laid off.
In the time they find new employment they have no idea where to start.
It’s this demographic that’s the worst affected & least unable to hustle.
The classic middle class that cannot become an uber driver or food delivery guy.
Without Pakistanis normalising & giving all jobs dignity, without women entering the workforce, the survival of middle class is impossible.
Why do we look down on hustle culture?
↔️food delivery
↔️teaching online
↔️food prep & catering
↔️call centres
Give dignity to every act that honestly tries to earn income.
The class-ist determinants of white collar as "genteel" & blue collar as low class needs dismantling.
A plumber, a carpenter, builder, facilities manager all are respectful professions.
Dignity leads to confidence.
So much HRD work in Pakistan but no one is interested beyond academic papers read out in forums in conference halls.
Mindset
Mindset reset.
Break the shackles of what’s normalized.
Skill trades are critical for western markets. By creating a better, skills force, Pakistani talent can find excellent opportunities abroad.
But we lack deeper knowledge, communication & degrees & continue to be employed as the most basic worker abroad.
How will this change?
GenZ is aware of the alternatives available to them & not scared of exploring them.
The same opportunities exist for every age group but few are aware of it.
How to shift 40 somethings to move from fixed mindset?
I think newsletters & threads wont cut it
What is needed is getting small groups of 8 people & discuss options with them. WhatsApp collective if you will.
No ponzi but actually handholding them through skills they have & building off it.
Taking courses doesn't cut it. Taking the course & how to start is what's needed
No space, no blog, no thread will create change UNLESS it moves from thinking it knows all the solutions to finding a solution to change mindset.
Like how women took to Microfinance. How did they get women to take loans to buy cows?
By creating small communities, local leaders
Start with a group.
Teach how to start? Not WHAT TO DO.
There are infinite ideas out there on what can be done. Sure blogs & threads reinforce the knowledge but between knowing & earning, the GAP of STARTING & DOING needs to be addressed.
The co-OP approach maybe?
Talk is easy and cheap.
It's the actions, getting some of these drowning souls to get up & start working towards a goal.
20 years spent working in a fixed minded culture sucks most individuals of adventure & curiosity.
Showing how to Walk the Talk is the only way for some.
Younger people take to tech easily.
So they're literally like sponges, soaking up content & trying.
The dynamic that is like immovable trunks, heavy with the weight of experience that's outdated has to be shown.
Not easy either to breakdown ego, pride & not lose confidence.
