A common misconception about the modern economy is that drastic changes must be made in order to make drastic improvements within teams, corporations, or cities alike. Not only that, these huge changes must occur at a breakneck pace...yesterday.
In our progress-focused economy, a prevalent source of urgency is the need to create new jobs throughout our country. Though rates of entrepreneurship and freelance employment remain consistent, they does not always mean that employment opportunities and employment rates proportionally rise at the same time.
Recently, opportunities for new job growth were assumed to arise via massive corporate injections into a city such as the addition of Amazon's new headquarters somewhere. Certainly, the infusion of such a massive enterprise would automatically offer many job opportunities wherever it lands, but our employment rates cannot rely solely on the growth of one giant company.
A recent article written by Amy Liu of the Brookings research group in Washington, D.C. suggests a much less drastic approach will benefit our job market over the long term.
The article sites Economist Gary Kunkle emphasizing "sustained growth in companies of all sizes, which add jobs steadily over several years, rather than in a single massive expansion."
The article also mentions the "power of clusters — especially in tech-based advanced industries — for regional job creation," which is defined as businesses located in close proximity to "competitors and suppliers, which allows them to share talent, supply chains, and infrastructure, leading to more innovation, growth, and spillover benefits in the form of new local jobs."
These two arguments lead to the conclusion that the best source of new job growth must come from "empowering existing people and businesses in a community to grow, innovate, and start new ventures." Not only will this fortify the existing business landscape in a city, but it will also attract larger corporations to that city not for the sake of its desperate need for new jobs but instead as a result of its preexisting innovative and growth advantages.
