In the last two years, the labor market has become increasingly unstable and difficult to penetrate, especially for young people. While the public discourse on social networks often seems simple – «if you want, you can find a job» – the reality on the ground is much more complicated. Layoffs, wages that do not keep pace with inflation and increasing competition make entering the labor market a frustrating and sometimes discouraging process for many. At the same time, social networks have created an illusion of reality in which success seems quick, accessible and universal. We constantly see examples of very young people earning huge sums as influencers, content creators or digital entrepreneurs. Many become freelancers, many open their own marketing agencies – «everything is possible if you want», so we are told in videos of a few seconds about the stories of successful influencers. However, how much of it is reality? Or even more precisely: how accessible is reality to everyone, as it is presented to us? This behavior can create the impression that financial stability is a matter of personal choice, completely ignoring the economic context in which most ordinary people live. A recent example that sticks in my mind and sparked discussion is a video in which a well-known American online figure, an influencer with an estimated net worth of tens of millions of dollars, responded to a young woman who said she had just been fired from her job, suggesting that her lack of initiative was the problem: «You know what else would help? Get another job. Try this!» The young woman worked as a ground employee for Spirit Airlines at the Boston airport. Recently, Spirit Airlines went bankrupt and suddenly closed, leaving over 17,000 people out of a job overnight, including herself. So she’s not the only one in a difficult situation, but how we all ended up living protected by our bubble, the influencer didn’t know. The public reaction was divided, but it brought to the surface an older tension: the difference between the perception of those who have reached a privileged position and the reality of those who struggle daily with economic instability. The problem is not just individual, but structural. In many industries, jobs are disappearing or being automated, and in others they are turning into precarious collaborations with no long-term security. At the same time, the cost of living is constantly increasing, and for many young people, financial independence is becoming increasingly difficult to achieve, even with education or experience. In this context, each social group ends up living in its own «bubble». Those from the corporate environment, those from the gig economy, influencers or freelancers have very different realities, and the contact between these worlds is increasingly rare. Social networks do not always bring them closer, but sometimes accentuate their differences. More and more often we come across content about a life where everything is possible, where vacations 4-5 times a year are normal, where it’s perfectly normal to have three jobs or where if you’re an influencer, success is guaranteed. Why do we continue to give attention, time and money to people who are so isolated in their bubbles that they have forgotten what real life looks like? The biggest problem is the lack of understanding between these realities. When some believe that «it is enough to work», and others experience the constant insecurity of the labor market and divide between 2-3 jobs, the dialogue is completely missing. The job market at the moment is tough and often unfair. The economic reality does not help either – inflation, a war that broke out overnight, a stagnation of salary increases. It’s true that in capitalism you can’t expect equal opportunities, but do we really have to make an economy of empathy? I think that a big part of this break from reality is also the fact that we are not used to opening a news publication and scrolling through there, limiting ourselves only to social media. It really helps to come back down to earth and see what is really going on around us. OANA IONIŢĂ is Social media manager BUSINESS Magazin, NV, După Afaceri Premium
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