With uberisation of the workforce, the dynamics of new age professional is fast changing with virtual offices, flexi working hours and work from home timetables which give the employees their place and space, says Suchita Dutta

Boardroom discussions are drastically changing the way businesses are adapting themselves due to the technological and digital advancement influencing functions, including HR. And within the purview of HR itself, gig economy is expected to bring transformational changes to traditional HR practices, hiring processes, sticking to the same job for years and years.

With uberisation of the workforce, there is a quick changing dynamics of new age working population where virtual offices, flexi working and work from home — all have found their place in their own terms.

Automation acting as a facilitator

With the rapid growth in automation and integration of artificial intelligence in the workplace, employers across the globe and in India, have found it both expensive and unnecessary to limit workforce engagement to the traditional employer-employee model. Organisations, both start-ups and larger companies, are beginning to value flexi workers, and gig workers who are skilled and willing to work on short projects and assignments.

Millennials and Gen X prefer to be their own bosses and the gig based economy allows them to pick their preferred working hours and helps them to work on an entrepreneurial approach, build their own network, update their skills according to market needs and demand. It is an open talent economy which includes internships and full time job.

In addition to the monetary benefits, freedom and flexibility have drawn millennials towards this model. It not only generates employment but also provides cost advantage to businesses helping to generate more business. Perhaps, automation has acted as a facilitator to this rising trend to gig economy.

Significantly, the gig economy is here to bring a change, it will open the door to flexi staffing. Flexible jobs will give the same kind of flexibility and freedom while choosing their jobs. Unlike gig economy, flexi-staffing will not only help to reduce the uncertainty of un-employment but also will help to get the same security benefits as those of permanent job roles.

Challenges in the Gig model

With the sudden boom in this approach, the associated limitations to the gig economy cannot be overlooked. According to TIME Magazine, freelance workers and contractors will earn 28 percent less than their regular counterparts. Besides, it also delves into lacking employee benefits like pensions, sick pay, holiday entitlement or parental leave. Gig workers are yet to be covered under the purview of labour laws and changing employment dynamics as they are not part of regular workforce. It may pose as a major challenge in the long run especially when they benefit employers in saving costs.

Second, gig workers might face a major issue in managing their career graph. At one point, they may feel lack of growth in their life, there would be no hierarchy which can take them to promotions. It becomes very difficult to maintain the same discipline throughout and chances of uncertainty increases.

However, on the contrary flexi workers get all the benefits that a gig worker is deprived of and at the same time flexibility is assured at any cost. It is a model that benefits the employer and the employee. The staffing industry has created an ecosystem which provides flexibility, administrative efficiencies and flawless compliance for corporates to expand and grow in their business.

Women and the gig economy model

Women in their late 30’s and 40’s who are generally married and stepping into early parenthood, often face the daunting dilemma of choosing between an established career and parenting. If we look at the trends globally, we can see a lot of career oriented successful women in their late 30’s or early 40’s become an entrepreneur or a freelancer by choice. For example, in the US, Amazon and Netflix are testing out 30-hour work weeks and flexible parental leave to help.

Flexible working hours, purpose driven work and plenty of avenues to become independent, resourceful are only some of the perks that women can explore. However, carving out a career in the gig economy can be quite difficult. And research shows women may face even greater barriers owing to their lack of access to networks and financial capital. In India, women are only 35 per cent of the gig economy.

Companies should look for ways to include women with mid and senior level experience in the gig economy. The added advantage is that many of these women, in fact, once exit a defined structure, they also have the added advantage of having learnt the skills of being entrepreneurial with limited resources.

Taking on more women as independent professionals is a good organisational strategy because many women find it hard to return to the restrictions of a corporate environment. There are many talented and aspiring women who desires to work, have gig economy as their option to choose from the rest.

The way forward

The gig economy is on the path of a rapid explosion, echoing the desire of the population for the independence and ability to work on their own terms. There is always two sides of the same coin, hence, with this new opportunity comes many problems like payments, regulation, taxation, isolation, and data privacy.

The gig workers don’t receive the employee benefits from the companies they work for. They have to juggle with multiple clients and it may hamper their work and they also need to market and network themselves to find new work. But if they opt for a staffing company, opportunities open up for them as they provides the right opportunity for the right candidate.

Change leads to adaptability and brings a plethora of options to choose from, and the decision lies in our hands to choose the best among the rest.

(As originally appeared in Daily Pioneer – https://www.dailypioneer.com/2018/avenues/get-set-for-the-new-gig.html)