Financial Impact on the Job Market

Participatory Economics is an economy that works for everyone. It starts with the assumption that every person on Earth deserves to be treated as an end in themselves, not merely as a means to someone else's ends. In a participatory economy, workers have a say in the way that their work is organized. This model supposedly results in higher-quality products and better working conditions for employees. It can also lower costs by reducing turnover, increasing motivation, and conducting research more effectively.

Our capitalist society is struggling with employment issues:

• 18% of adults employed part-time find it hard to get full-time employment, despite their efforts;
• 46% of women that are unemployed by choice report having no other choice because they are the caregiver for a family member;
• Around 30% of adults spend at least 20 hours a month on gig activities, which signals about the limitations of job market opportunities.

The idea behind parecon is self-management. Parecon doesn't have a central authority dictating things like business hours, vacation time, and so on. A democratic process sets the rules called a "participatory decision-making procedure." There is no boss or stakeholders. Wages are paid based on merits and personal effort.

The job market under participatory economic principles will account for a series of significant changes:

• The need to change jobs out of reasons related to finances and power will make no sense due to an equal distribution of power and uniform task difficulty;
• More pleasant and more challenging tasks are distributed across all workers, thus eliminating the burden of a "tough job" or offering such workers better pay;
• What you are paid depends directly on your coworkers, who measure your effort and decide how well you did compared to everybody else;
• No labor markets. Job complexes replace them.

Participatory economics promotes the concept of economic democracy and self-management. It seeks to replace work for wages and profits with practical collective activity. Participatory economics proposes an alternative to modern capitalism through its support for worker-managed enterprises and direct democracy.

At least, in theory, parecon works for everyone: workers, consumers, and producers. Everyone affected by a decision has an equal role in making it. It's not just businesses or governments or unions that decide things; every individual is involved as well. That means people get to follow their passions and use their skills where they are needed. Restructuring job markets to the benefit of society as opposed to corporations is the central motivator around the changes in the job market. The question is whether we can achieve that through participatory economics.