Photo by Fikri Rasyid on Unsplash
The gig economy is growing, and it’s very likely that today’s school students will be involved in it in some form or another during their working lives. It’s a different type of work, and they will need to have their eyes open to what to expect.
Traditional, full-time work is declining, and in its place is temporary, flexible work done by independent contractors or freelancers. Such working arrangements are becoming desirable for companies of all sizes; workers’ hours don’t need to be guaranteed, they are only paid for the work they produce, and they can also be let go if things don’t work out. There are benefits for the workers too. They can choose who they want to work with, when they work, the types of work they do, how much they charge, and generally have the opportunity to exercise entrepreneurship and a level of flexibility unknown to many traditional, full-time workers.
However, such work comes with risks. Companies don’t need to pay holidays, medical, parental leave, health insurance or make retirement contributions. This means that workers in the gig economy have to organise this themselves, and those that don’t can wind up seriously exposed if something unexpected happens.
This app provides a solution for one class of worker in the gig economy, in which clients can make voluntary contributions to build credits that can be exchanged for benefits such as healthcare.
It’s a start so far as solutions go, but this conversation has to start much earlier. What knowledge and skills will a person need to thrive in the new era of work? Understanding financial planning has always seemed like a good idea to teach students, but it’s never really taken off in schools – now it’s starting to look like an imperative.
Are we having conversations with our students and school communities about how the nature of work and opportunity is changing, and what knowledge and competencies will be needed to thrive? If not, why not?
We’ve looked at the gig economy before, and from what we read there are pros and cons, including:
The short-term benefits can seem tempting: workers can choose who they work for, they may see an increase in pay, highly-skilled and in-demand workers may see huge pay rises, and they can largely structure their days to suit their preferred working hours. So far, so good.
But then come potential downsides: contracts abruptly cancelled, lost jobs due to lower-priced competition, long, ever-changing hours, stagnating or decreasing wages for low-skilled workers – there’s no minimum wage because freelancers are technically not employees, no access to benefits, and the danger of a ‘hand to mouth’ existence.
So what’s the latest news? Our first article from CNBC is based on Upwork’s Freelancing in America 2018 Survey. A key takeaway from the survey is that freelancers view skills as being far more important for their work than college degrees. This is important, because the benefits of having a college may no longer exist:
“Rapid technological change, combined with rising education costs, have made our traditional higher-education system an increasingly anachronistic and risky path. The cost of a college education is so high now that we have reached a tipping point at which the debt incurred often isn’t outweighed by future earnings potential.”
The future of work won’t be about degrees, it will be about lifelong learning and re-skilling, and freelancers are more than twice as likely as other workers to demonstrate this mindset. Shall we add that to the ‘pros’ of working in the gig economy?
In a somewhat contrary view to the prevailing narrative, this opinion piece from the New York Times argues that it’s not technology that’s driving societal change, but rather political decisions about how we choose to organise our world. It argues that:
“This insight is crucial for anyone concerned about the insecurity and other shortcomings of the gig economy. For it reminds us that far from being an unavoidable consequence of technological progress, the nature of work always remains a matter of social choice. It is not a result of an algorithm; it is a collection of decisions by corporations and policymakers.”
In short, it’s not tech. that’s disrupting jobs, but policy and corporations. The author argues that the gig economy represents the severing of obligations between employer and worker, and the collapse of the protections of people, and insecurity of work is not inevitable.
However, our next article from medium.com takes a different view again – that the gig economy enables people to live on their own terms. The looks at ‘The shortening of work’, with work moving beyond the freelancer to the ‘tasker’ (see the article for a graphic). It examines the transition from a ‘pipe’ to ‘platform’ model of work, in which freelancers and clients interact through dynamic, decentralised, platform-based ecosystems.
There are downsides to manage of course, but the author argues that platform-based freelancing places the power (and therefore protections) back in the hands of the freelancers themselves as the platform allows a form of collective bargaining, among other benefits.
An interesting perspective, and one worth considering.
More on the gig economy with this piece of research from Geonet. The abstract shares insights about how gig economy workers in Sub-Saharan Africa and parts of SouthEast Asia self organise around platforms and social media. The organisational structure is unique to the gig economy, labour unions are absent, and workers can share information efficiently, but they are also fragmented by nationality, occupation and the types of platform used.
Perhaps a move to a more comprehensive platform-based freelance model might be appropriate?
Whatever the model, lifelong learning is a key to success in the gig economy.
The growth of the gig economy, in which workers compete for contract jobs rather than employment, is huge, will continue to grow, and will involve or affect most workers and/or their families over the coming 15 years. Companies are shedding workers and moving to flexible contracts, and the day may come when large multinational companies don’t have any employees at all.
The short-term benefits can seem tempting: workers can choose who they work for, they may see an increase in pay, highly-skilled and in-demand workers may see huge pay rises, and they can largely structure their days to suit their preferred working hours. So far, so good.
But then come the downsides: contracts abruptly cancelled, lost jobs due to lower-priced competition, long, ever-changing hours, stagnating or decreasing wages for low-skilled workers – there’s no minimum wage because they are technically not employees, no access to benefits, the danger of a ‘hand to mouth’ existence.
Written in the year 2028, this article explores scenarios that current students will face as they enter and become established in the workforce. Workers bid for positions through apps based on hourly rates, McDonalds no longer employs anyone at all, and the majority of the workforce is now outsourced on demand. It takes a retrospective view of how it all happened, and identifies two key factors in accelerating the gig economy: technological advances and changes to labour laws.
What does this mean for learning? Students and even mature adults must be engaged in a conversation that allows them to identify trends that are happening in the workplace, so that they are informed and in a position to negotiate and make good choices for themselves. How can we go about realising this?
Freelancers make up 35% of the total workforce in The United States, and total numbers have increased by 1 million freelancers per year for the last 3 years.
Entrepreneur.com reports that freelancers tend to make more, enjoy more freedom and flexibility, and use technology to increase income and grow their business. There remain challenges: ensuring that they have access to health and retirement benefits is key, along with ensuring that clients pay on time and as agreed.
Reading around key personal and professional characteristics that influence the success of freelance workers, the following can be identified:
1. Strong intrinsic motivation.
2. Excellent communication and presentation skills.
3. Resilience, grit and responding constructively to feedback.
4. Constant retraining and learning.
5. They view themselves as entrepreneurs, always seeking new opportunities.
Are those who choose to become freelancers being taught these skills in schools – are they prepared? Does the design of our education and learning systems reflect this new and growing reality of work?
The research conducted and insights gained during the writing of this article have inspired the Indigo Schools Framework, the details of which can found in the Primer on our Resources Page. Send us an email at info@indigoschools.net or complete the form below if you’d like to learn more about how the Indigo Schools Framework can be successfully applied within your school. Also be sure to follow us on Facebook and Linkedin for our latest updates.