When the going gets tough, will the tough go to Web 2.0?

A few months back, in a post over at the FastForward Enterprise 2.0 site, I pondered if new, on-demand technologies would change the dynamics of economic downturns. The post garnered some interesting reactions, and it's still extremely timely, so I thought I'd share it with readers here as well:

If There is a Recession, Will it be ‘Recession 2.0′?

It is an inescapable fact that business growth moves in cycles — up and down. In the event of a downturn, let’s ponder the role of our hyper-networked space in managing through tougher times. We may have not seen anything like it.

Let me start with this thought: It’s not 1975 anymore. In the recession that stormed through the 1974-75 period, there were massive layoffs. Workers were dismissed from plants and offices, and were lined up at unemployment offices. They were powerless, and cut off from information relevant to their industry, coworkers, and new opportunities. Nor for that matter is it 1981, when the ugly cycle repeated itself, or 1991 and 2001, when more powerless white-collar workers joined the unemployment lines.

In those times, it often didn’t matter how much value employees provided to their organizations, when it came time to slash, they were cast out to the street. Of course, many were hired back within a couple of years as things get better. But in the meantime, there were anxious months — and afterwards, the constant fear of future layoffs.

Workers are no longer those powerless pawns, locked into 9-to-5 routines, subject to the whims of their employers. Instead, they carry around portable skills, portable resources, and portable networks that can be quickly applied and adapted to new environments and situations. As we frequently discuss... the balance of power in organizations has shifted to the end-user. If the organization thinks it can no longer afford the services and expertise an employee provides, that employee may be able to rapidly shift that expertise and services to another organization.

Now, employees remain connected in real time not only to their co-workers from organizations past and present, but also networks of professionals in their areas of expertise. Opportunities and new ideas for generating opportunities can be quickly shared and acted upon. Blogs, wikis, search engines and the like have transformed our workspaces into one single gigantic virtual workplace. We no longer depend on our coworkers down the hall; we now leverage resources from across the globe.

Many employees simply may not even need a full-time employer anymore. In 1975, the idea of going the entrepreneurial route was not a realistic option for most workers. It took plenty of seed money and visibility to get a new operation going and profitable.

Now, it’s possible to start an innovative new business with virtually little or no investment, employing Web-based resources. It’s now possible to run an entire business on Web 2.0-based services — from infrastructure to databases to business intelligence and analytics. Many are free, the rest only charge on an incremental per-use basis.

There’s the example of GigaVox Media, a podcasting support company, that invested a grand total of $80 for its first two months in the kind of same robust IT infrastructure that would be available to GM. All the computing power you need is available right from the Web — no investment required. Web 2.0 and Software as a Service may give rise to thousands of new businesses.

Unlike previous economic downturns, many of today’s workers and professionals will not resign themselves to the powerlessness of the unemployment line. Any economic downturn has the potential to be reversed or mitigated by empowered employees or entrepreneurs who will be able to collaborate, share information and knowledge, and quickly respond to and act on new opportunities, thanks to our networked economy.