The gig economy is an emerging phenomenon in the modern business environment that is charting the course for work and the workplace of the future. While the term “Gig” is relatively new, the market for wage payment per job and freelance is not. Over the years, the advent of digitization and globalization has created a platform where people can work from the comfort of their homes for companies in the diaspora. Yet, the gig economy goes beyond freelancing.
The gig economy describes an ecosystem of freelance workers, independent contractors and project workers who take on jobs for organisations on a need basis and are paid per job or gig as opposed to being hired as full staff receiving a regular salary. The gig economy has gained increasing acceptance by organisations and professionals across several fields over the years.
The younger generations are looking away from the predictability and security of traditional employment in pursuit of a more diverse and intriguing system that empowers them with freedom and flexibility. Freelancers and independent contractors often appreciate the additional income, the relative flexibility of working on their own, and their liberty to choose what and from whom they want to work on. More so, many organisations and businesses are leveraging flexible models such as outsourcing and the gig economy to achieve the benefits of time and cost efficiencies. They do this by going lean, hiring only the most critically required core staff and the best specialists on a need basis for their projects.
Embracing the gig economy may seem impracticable for some businesses who find it hard to see how they can drive full-scale operations without having to hire full time staff. However, the effectiveness of the gig economy and other flexible business models such as outsourcing has been proven time and again across the globe. Some of the ways this new work revolution can benefit businesses include:
Experiment with remote work
Remote work and freelance were previously witnessed only in the information technology sector; it is, however, now beginning to be widely adopted in the workplace across the globe. It is increasingly moving from a ‘nice-to-have’ to the preferred job type for many employees and job seekers. In order to take advantage of the gig economy, businesses can adopt the remote work model. Hence, it is pertinent to first determine if this model best suits the available structure of an organisation. The best way to find out is to try it out by engaging a gig worker to test the local independent nature of the business operations. It is also good to explore the functions of specific roles available in the company if they can be performed by a freelancer as against increasing the full-time workforce.
Creating New Business Models
A number of businesses that have been riding on the waves of change have done so by creating or imbibing new business models that aid their growth and scalability. As opposed to hiring and creating offices for a new subsidiary company or a new stream of revenue for the company, you can build these new business models around gig tasks and grow it with very little operational costs.
Re-evaluate Workplace Technology
Businesses that have taken flight on the gig economy are predominantly those that have established the change management, infrastructure and requisite processes, systems and structures across all its operations to accommodate the fluidity that the gig economy thrives on. It is important for businesses seeking to explore this ride to implement working tools that can enable increased productivity and collaboration across its operations. Tools like Zoom and Teams are good places to start from.
Develop a Project-centric Approach
The gig economy focuses on project deliverables and outcomes rather than just processes or physical presence. While traditional employment offers the employer the right to the skillset of fulltime professionals and uses them as they deem fit, the gig economy is more result oriented. Businesses can, thus, easily leverage the gig economy by being more project and process focused.
It is certain that the gig economy will continue to grow and build traction on a global scale in the face of the evolving future of work. Given the fact that the global job market and business competition is sure to become increasingly unpredictable and uncertain with growing automation and new technology, it is important for organisations and businesses to begin to adopt measures to help them adapt to this future and not fade to oblivion. For workers, success in the gig economy as with the future of work will be highly dependent on specific skillsets with clear deliverables, while for organisations and businesses, digitalised processes and infrastructure that enables scalability will be the key to growth and sustainability.