Gig Life – Our Economy Is Changing, Are You Changing With It?

​Perhaps you’ve already noticed.  Things are changing all around us and it’s happening at lightening speed.

The workplace, as many of us know it, is going through a facelift.  A facelift commonly referred to as ‘the gig economy’.  It is estimated that 35% of the US workforce in 2017 is now comprised of Gig’s.

Gig’s and gig users have something in common…

work doesn’t always need to be 9-5, M-F…

And many of us have been slow to adapt to this change in our workforce.

What is the Gig Economy anyways? 

It’s an alternative work approach in which temporary positions are common and organizations contract with independent workers for short-term engagements.

This doesn’t sound new, so what’s the deal?

While using temporary labor may not be a new thing, what is very new is the amount of work that is now being facilitated through Gig’s on short-term engagement. (AKA freelance, independent contractors, contingent workers, temporary workers, etc.)

Gig freelancing is taking a much wider foothold in our economy.  Today it’s common to find all sorts of work being packaged and facilitated through Gigs whereas before these jobs were considered only as fully employed roles. Management roles, engineering, software, events, cooking, the music industry, professional coaching and even academics are a few examples of work which is now being performed largely by the current day Gig worker.  It could also mean you and I having a separate part-time job which we use to bring in extra income on the side. (AKA moonlighting)

For example, there are companies and people who do nothing but provide short term support for other companies which have a need for an interim CEO.  There are just as many options for companies who want additional support in doing their product design but don’t want to hire a full time employee because it’s work that is intermittent.  These are examples of where Gigs come into play.
They serve a role for a period of time on behalf of a separate organization.  Once they’re done they’re off to finding their next opportunity, often times they may have multiple jobs/ projects going on at the same time.
 
Why are companies and people alike moving in this direction?

As our economy and technology continues to evolve we become less and less reliant on doing business face to face.  For those of us who grew up in business when you were expected to be in the office for no other reason than ‘face-time’ you should be happy to know that many companies are moving away from this model.  Why? We’re learning, slowly but surely, that ‘face-time’ isn’t productive.  Employees can be just as productive from home, at a coffee shop or at the local water hole (not that I recommend that) rather than being shackled to their four foot cubicle for nine hours a day. 

Productivity soars thanks to the usage of Gigs because it offers people the ability to do work and do so on their own accord.  We often hear people who are Gig’s say they “like working this way because it’s more creative, allows for a better work/ life balance and gives them the ability to choose the work they want to do.”  The benefit to the employer utilizing a Gig approach is they can reduce their overhead on costly brick and mortar facilities (estimated at $12k per employee per year) while having work completed by true experts in the field.  Employers are also able to onboard new talent and off-board unneeded skills without the burden of employment taxes and paperwork.

Why it is important for me to be aware of ‘The Gig Life’?

The reason you should care about what is going on in the Gig Economy is because very soon we will all need to adjust to this new work style in order to remain competitive. 

Now I’ve got your attention!

It’s time we gave some good introspective thought on how we do things at the workplace and whether or not that is the right way to do it.  Perhaps your business, your department or your team could benefit from using Gigs to handle freelance work.  Maybe in doing so you’ll be able to facilitate a wider volume of business which means more customers, more money and more margaritas on the beach in Acapulco.  Maybe your employees are tired of seeing your face on the daily and could use a little R&R while working from home.
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Either way, it’s time we all jump on the wagon because whether we like it or not the Gig Economy is here to stay and it promises to only grow as time goes on.