Tribal Workers: Today's
generation of high-earning
professionals maintain that their personal
fulfillment comes from their jobs and the hours they work.
In this article, Thomas Barlow details the life of today’s “Tribal Workers” a group of young professions Barlow details as educated, over achieving young people in their late 20s and early 30s. According to
adult psychology, there is a developmental phase between the early 20s and the mid 30s when a lot of adult responsibility kicks in (providing for the family, etc.) that a young person feels at a loss as what to do with his/her life. Of course this psychology doesn’t apply to all young adults, many are born into conditions that are very difficult to elevate from. However, for the “Tribal worker” this period of adult psychology, of angst and dislocation is most poignant. These young folk are often the academic elite, graduating from the world’s top universities, coming from affluent families with tons of potential and
working spirit.
What this makes for is a sort of “tribal” tendency, moving from
place to place searching for more experiences, more fulfillment, more achievement. Having been brought up in an achievement oriented background; most of these young professionals have always believed that they can “do anything”. It has been reinforced by go-getting, successful parents and popular media which has been targeting the wandering, adventurous young generation. What this often translates into is 3 or more professional degrees, traveling across continents, 5-6 jobs in 3 years and lot of work experience.
Sadly, this does not always translate into fulfillment or happiness. Many of these young professionals suffer from depression and feelings of numbness. Facing the pressure of constantly working and moving, few have had lasting, meaningful relationships. Relationships aren’t meant to last very long and entering any relationship, especially romantic ones, with the anticipation of it ending quickly or having boundaries can be very destructive to the human psyche. Loneliness is rampant but in the end these young professionals just grit their teeth and keep on working. “Boredom is worse than loneliness” many insist, but as they begin to run out of time and run out of adventures to seek and more achievements to take, they may find their adult lives hampered and damaged by their ambition.
For a generation that is so used to living and working for itself, there lies danger ahead.
1999 The Financial Times Limited Financial Times
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