Why 2009-2019 Is The Decade Of The Employee

Three trends — social media, technology and start-ups — have rewritten the power equation in enterprises

- Kamal Karanth

The first year of a new decade, 2020, is knocking at our doors. However, I can’t help but rewind to 2009 when I hesitantly created a LinkedIn account.

It wasn’t a good day. We were in the middle of a merger, and my boss was exiting. I concluded an unpleasant call with him and left my office at Kuala Lumpur. By the time I reached home, my Yahoo email had flagged a new message from a Detroit-based recruiter asking for my phone number. So, in about eight hours after debuting on LinkedIn, a Fortune 500 Company was interviewing me for a Country GM role.

That was the first time I realized the power of this new media in hiring.

Fast forward to 2019; my HR head asked a departing colleague to write a review about the company on Glassdoor. I believe the employee cheekily responded, “I can only give a negative review. If you can stomach that, tell me to do you want me to write that?” My HR head went quiet and never followed up with her ex-colleague again. Do you need more evidence about the power of employee-voice now amplified by a public platform?

In my view, social media has had the maximum impact on talent and enterprises in the last decade. However, my colleagues have passionately argued with me that technology has holistically changed talent and enterprise behavior.

I can’t help but add the impact of start-ups on the world of work. Let me start with start-ups.

Start-ups, the new status symbol?