Going It Alone in Recessionary Times?

The April Labour Market Survey noted that "Employment grew by 36,000 in April, the result of an increase in self-employment" and I just saw in the Globe an article about how many terminated or laid-off employees have turned their backs on the corporate world in favour of taking their destinies into their own hands.  Here's a quote that's reflective of the sentiments of those interviewed for the article:

As new franchisee Michelle MacPhie said, she would rather jump out of bed to answer her home business phone at midnight than let someone else dictate whether she has a job.

Out of the changes brought about by the recession comes great opportunity for many.

Have a read of Scott Pennington's paper The Opportunity for Entrepreneurship in Ontario where he notes, in a similar vein, that:

No matter the sector, it is unlikely that an individual can rely on a single firm to provide stable employment for an extended period of his or her working life. We have developed inbuilt assumptions about work being tenuous and impermanent; and as a result we tend now to talk more about work experience and resume-building, rather than developing a singular career.

For many workers this lack of stability has had negative consequences. This is particularly the case for those who have relied on the same job for the same firm for many years, or even decades. In the new economic environment, such singular loyalty can be a liability rather than an asset if workers have not developed a broad set of applicable skills and competencies.