It is said that people tend to change jobs several times throughout their working lives. If this is what you are feeling, gig economy might be something you are waiting for.
Gig economy is a situation that temporary jobs are common; organizations give independent workers short-term working contracts. This trend has begun in many counties. A study predicted that, 40% of American workers would become independent contractors by 2020. That’s because in the digital age, the workforce and jobs are increasingly flexible, with less constrains on the working location and working time. As a result, the free workers are able to choose temporary jobs and projects around the world while the employers could select the workers who are most suitable for a specific project from a large talent pool. Companies also benefit from gig economy by saving resources in terms of benefits, office space and training while works are able to achieve work-life balance and choose the job they really like.
At the moment, several software platforms are there, enabling people to find flexible work. For example, any reasonably driver could find a part time job by plugging into Uber or BlaBlaCar. As a designers or computer programmers, ELance and oDesk are the place for you to get short-term assignments. More than a million “manufactures” go to online marketplace Etsy to sell the jewellery, clothing and toys in their free time. Gig economies pop up across many industries, from short-term rentals (Airbnb) to drafting legal contracts (UpCounsel) to housecleaning (Handy).
What kind of effect gig economy will have on future of work? Work provided by digital platforms might varies from high-skilled, high-paid to low-skilled, low-paid. They might be localized or cross borders, vary from developing countries to developed countries. It has potential to create enormous opportunities both for the global workers and employers. At the same time, governments should regulate the industry based on the thoroughly understanding of the new models of work. Responsible platforms will lead to shape new labor markets and design new social contracts.
Source:
http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/gig-economy
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jul/26/will-we-get-by-gig-economy
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/06/gig-economy-changing-work/
https://www.wired.com/2016/01/gig-economy-workers/
Thank you for your article! I agree that temporary assignments are much more common today than years ago, but I think one should distinguish between full and part time jobs.
In terms of FULL time jobs I do not believe that Gig will be the next big thing (or even sustainable for that matter.) Sure, for some people, free-lancing is freedom: they work on their own terms, their own time schedule and take the projects they want to work on. If thats the case, thats perfect. On the other hand, some people might choose free-lancing because they are forced: either they do not find a steady job or a temporary steady job does not provide enough income. If the amount of free lancers rises, especially on platform-mediated networks to use last weeks terminology they will burst: once business use these networks on a large scale, they can drive the price down as there are so many more free-lancers they could hire instead of you. With regard to full time work I think culture should definitely be taken into account. Old but gold, Geert Hofstedes finding indicate that some nationalities are just “wired” a little differently to put it in simple words, especially with regard to risk aversion. If you take his study into account it makes sense that the %of willing freelancers in the USA is that high; I doubt it will come anywhere close to that number for Germany for example. From my point of view this issue holds for both the freelancer offering work and being accepted to work; depending on the cultural or business context freelancing can be difficult.
For PART time work on the other hand, meaning making a little extra money on the side, I certainly agree that Gig might be the next trend. Especially crafty platforms such as Etsy have become increasingly popular from what it feels like. Here I think creativity is key. As was the case with Uber and will be most likely for AirBnB, established companies or laws will restrict your business. Niche markets however may thrive as a Gig economy.
Hi Carla
Thanks for your comment. The point you mention about culture is quite interesting. I totally agree that culture is something varies between nations and is difficult to change. There are some culture with higher risk aversion level. However, with the development and popularity of gig economy, togher with the goverenment regulation I mentioned in the article, the risk of being a free-lancing will be lower and lower. And it would be acceptable for more culture.
I agree that traditioanl full time jobs still will be attractvie for some employees and employers. Gig economy will not take over of all the traitional jobs. But I believe that with the popularity of gig economy, it will at least change the proportion of full-tiem jobs in the future labor market.