Our right to work in the United States allows us to protect against risk, maintain health, accumulate wealth, and ensure the prosperity of families. Your ability to work, regardless of gender, race, physical ability or disability, is an asset to your family and future generations.
Where have all the workers gone? The Great Exodus has the potential of a catastrophic demise for future generations as companies turn to robotics and software. There were “3.5 million workers who left their jobs to retire, work from home and/or relocate each month in 2019, down to 1.9 million in April 2020 (SHRM).” We’ve heard of the 78 million boomer bubbles that have been bursting for years, as millions of workers leave nice, comfortable offices empty and unwilling to return to cubicles because they think it’s time to retire .
Companies will adapt to ongoing technological change. We’re not just shifting; it feels like transformation. Melissa Jezior of Eagle Hill Consulting advised companies to “embracing the idea that post-pandemic business strategy and workforce planning will look different and start identifying the talents, skills and roles that will be necessary to thrive after the health crisis his will pass.” She cautions against “filling up roles with the same skills. But jumping forward means identifying and cultivating new skills through upskilling, reskilling, and hiring practices.” I might add that I’m incorporating more technology In the 1970s, the theory was that computers would replace human capital, and we may be being forced to do so as this generation is feeling burned out and looking for a work-life balance.
This time last year, SHRM polls predicted a “50% sales tsunami”. Businesses are impacted today but still have to deal with the consequences of COVID. These are catastrophes that are not classified as “force majeure” by the insurance industry, as are hurricanes, true tsunamis and catastrophes that are impacting businesses worldwide while the threat of inflation persists, according to leading economists. And maybe World War III? We could say, “Don’t look up or don’t pay attention.”
After the Civil War, World Wars I and II, the 1929 stock market crash, etc., the US rebuilt from the lighting wand to the smartphone through four industrial revolutions. We could be in the fifth today.
We have been hit hard by this international COVID pandemic as we mourn with those of you who have lost loved ones, jobs, relationships, family separations and/or loss of income.
Our ability to earn a living today represents the hope for our future and enables us to contribute to our community. We must protect our families and community by protecting ourselves from disability, disease, and financial disaster, and by promoting, restoring, and preserving emotional well-being.
As I read about the history of our country and my industry, I see the consequences of risk and caution in risk transfer, as life insurance in the 18th Homeowners, Renters Insurance, Property and Casualty Insurance, Workers Compensation, Errors and Omissions, Cyber Liability, Liability for labor practices, medical, dental, vision, life, STD/LTD, insurance carriers pay claims and “ensure the financial stability of individuals and the nation along with powering American industry (insurance and the US economy). “
If we ask ourselves, do I want to be a productive person for as long as possible or “become a burden to society (insurance and the US economy)?” My heart races when I see my family, the precious faces of my grandchildren. Even Nona carries a responsibility for the net worth, business venture and individual contribution of our family in every decision I make.
Our Human Life Value is our earning power by number of years of work left, as insurance and financial institutions base our health and ability to earn a living on it. With proper planning and insurance, we protect against involuntary destruction of assets. This protection of the value of human life is seen as the most important link between present and future generations. This value can be lost in whole or in part as a result of death or disability. A lack of proper risk transfer planning, retirement, and the will and/or confidence to protect ourselves from the inevitable can cause more than the loss of our lives, it impacts our families, our communities, and the US -Economy off.
Danone Simpson, MBA, GBDS, is CEO of Montage Insurance Solutions. To learn more, visit montageinsurance.com.
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