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The #147;Four Horsemen#148; of Corporate America By Cliff Ennico www.cliffennico.com Anyone who took Art History 101 in college remembers at some point seeing a slide of Albrecht Durer#146;s woodcut, #147;The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse#148;. This masterpiece depicts four ghostly riders on horseback, charging ahead in full stampede and waving their fearsome weapons over their heads, trampling over the bodies of the highborn and lowborn equally, while angels float overhead egging them on (you can see a terrific reproduction on the Web at www.apocalipsis.org/artwork/durer4horse.html ) These mythic figures, who made their first appearance in the biblical Book of Revelation, are symbols of the four plagues that have devastated mankind since the beginning, the evils that no human can prevent or avoid -- War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death. As the economy heats up, a lot of downsized executives and frustrated business owners are thinking about making a return to the #147;Fortune #147;1000#148; corporate world, where the living is easy, the money flows like wine, and you actually get benefits. Well, before you dust off your suits, polish up your resume, and google the Web to learn more about Six Sigma, be aware that corporate America is facing #147;Four Horsemen#148; of its own right now, and these plagues are likely to be hanging around for the next couple of decades at least. Now more than ever, it is important to hang on to your entrepreneurial dreams, for dear life, and resist the siren call of the corporate cubicle. Horseman # 1: The Computer Revolution . These days, if a big company can buy computers to do the work of people, it buys the computers and eliminates the people. With today#146;s information technology, it is entirely possible to run a $1 billion corporation with fewer than 100 employees, and large corporate staffs are a thing of the permanent past. Horseman # 2: The Rise of Asia . If a big company must hire people to do a job, because no computer is good enough, it is likely to hire the cheapest people it can in far-flung corners of the globe. Our global economy often forces corporations to hire people overseas who can work for a fraction of the salaries and benefits their American counterparts need. It is not an exaggeration to say that we are witnessing the dawn of an #147;Asian Century#148;, with China, India and some of the smaller Pacific Rim nations becoming the economic powerhouses of the future. American industry will have to struggle hard to survive, much less maintain its dominance. Horseman # 3: The Outsourcing of Nonessential Functions . If a big company really must hire Americans, because no foreigner is good enough, it will #147;outsource#148; them as independent contractors rather than employees, especially if the job is perceived by senior management to be a #147;staff function#148; that is not essential to the company#146;s success. That way the company doesn#146;t have to pay them benefits, health insurance or other employee #147;perks#148;. Horseman # 4: The Obsession with Productivity . If you perform such an essential function for a big company that they absolutely must hire you as an employee, not an independent contractor, be prepared to work harder than you ever have in your life. Big corporations these days are obsessed with #147;maximizing productivity#148;, which often translates into English as #147;getting the maximum amount of work out of your employees for the minimum amount of compensation#148;. For example, in an effort to cut employee health care costs, many big companies are modifying their health insurance plans so as to decrease their mandatory contributions and increase the deductibles, copays and other amounts employees must pay before coverage kicks in. While no doubt many corporate employers will take seriously their #147;social welfare#148; obligations to their employees, some will take advantage of the availability of cheap overseas labor and the weakness of American labor unions to create a sweatshop environment for their employees in which one #147;lives, breathes, eats, sleeps and excretes the Company#148; with little time for outside pursuits, and is expected to be grateful for it. And a Fifth Horseman: Our Increasingly Volatile Economy . And if due to some miracle of enlightened management a company resists the temptation to be run down by the #147;Four Horsemen#148; and is actually a great place to work, always remember that even the most #147;employee friendly#148; company can be taken over by a competitor, lose a key product due to obsolescence or loss of a key patent, or fail due to poor management. In some industries, all it will take is one successful terrorist attack on American soil, or one decline in an economic indicator, to drive every company into a tailspin. The marketplace these days is extremely unforgiving, and small mistakes frequently lead to big disasters, which are immediately broadcast to the entire world in real time by our 24/7 media. Even if you stay employed with a big company until age 65, you will still need to keep your entrepreneurial dream alive if you expect to survive your retirement years. Corporate retirement plans are a lot less generous than they used to be, and many corporations have cut back, or eliminated altogether, the medical insurance they provide to their retirees. The Government won#146;t be there to bail you out, either. Social Security, Medicare and other government programs that helped your parents and grandparents either won#146;t be there when you are ready for them, or they will be so scaled back that only the most poverty-stricken Americans will qualify for them. And you won#146;t be able to fall back upon blue-collar or service jobs, because there#146;s a massive wave of new immigrants from Asia, Africa and Latin America who are only too willing, for a lot less money, to take the jobs we educated Americans are too proud to do. To sum it all up, even if you do make a successful return to corporate America, you cannot count on your employer #150; or indeed, anyone other than yourself -- any longer to provide you with a generous living over the long term. Big companies, facing tough foreign competition, have learned that they have to keep their costs as low as possible to stay alive. Since people are a corporation#146;s biggest cost, they try to run their businesses with as few employees as possible, and try to get as much work out of those people as they legally can without overpaying for it. My prediction for all of you, dear readers #150; no, my guarantee #150; is that sooner or later (maybe next year, maybe when you turn 50, maybe when you retire) you will find yourself once again responsible for generating the income you need by running your own business. My advice to all of you is to begin preparing for that day now. If you are running a business and do get a corporate job, don#146;t shut down your business completely; keep it running on #147;life support#148;, perhaps with the help of stay-at-home relatives, so you won#146;t have to start it up again from scratch if the new job doesn#146;t work out. Develop new skills and other interests on the job that you can turn into profit making businesses or consulting practices someday. Make business contacts that can not only help you in your current job, but provide customers, financing or other support to your future entrepreneurial venture. Keep up to date about new techniques for running successful small businesses, and don#146;t cancel your subscription to HomeBusinessJournal under any circumstances. Look for opportunities to get back into the entrepreneurial life, and don#146;t wait until the #147;time is right#148; before you launch. The sooner you get started, the sooner you will be able to support yourself without having to rely on anyone else for your income. And then you can get on with the fun stuff you#146;ve always wanted to do in life #150; without fear, without anxiety, without ever having to wonder if things would have been better had you stayed on the corporate ladder. CLIFF ENNICO, best known as the host of the PBS television series #147;MoneyHunt#148;, is the author of the nationally syndicated newspaper column #147;Succeeding in Your Business#148; and the legal correspondent for the Small Business Television Network at www.sbtv.com . You can find out more about him at www.cliffennico.com . Permission granted for use on DrLaura.com