Want to own your own business? In this entrepreneurial age, that has become an option for some middle managers who suddenly find themselves out of jobs.
The dismissal of so many middle managers has become a boon for outplacement firms–and a problem for the economy, because so many older, well-educated managers are seeking jobs worthy of their skills.
Outplacement firms are paid a fee by companies to deal with the problems of dismissed employees, usually middle or top managers. Counselors help ease the trauma of dismissal and, after tests and counseling, help employees present themselves for another job.
Some older middle managers–those in their 50s or 60s–find it more difficult to obtain new jobs and often want to start their own businesses, in particular, consulting firms.
Some outplacement firms are helping these people start new businesses, sometimes even putting up capital.
Jerome C. Beam of Beampines Inc., a New York outplacement firm, says that he determines, through psychological tests, whether a dismissed manager is capable of operating his or her own business.
Beam estimates that most managers in the firm`s outplacement program want to go into business.
Another outplacement firm, Seagate Associates Inc. of Paramus, N.J., has formed an ”incubator” within its office–a separate area of small private offices with secretarial help where its clients can start to work on their own companies.
Claudia A. Gentner, a vice president, said, ”We give them consulting support, provide them with market research, a study of the competition, identification of customers, and we can direct them to legal and accounting services.”
Most clients have their own ideas about the kind of business they want to start, according to Gentner.
”But if they don`t, we can give them ideas–about franchise opportunities, for example,” she said. ”We believe they need money to support themselves for two years at least.”
