Is it time your company embraced the ‘Gig Economy’?
By: Dan, redwigwam
What is the ‘gig economy’?
The global business economy was left in a perilous state after the aftershock surrounding Brexit, the slump in Chinese consumption and jitters in the Eurozone banking sector. This has caused companies – big and small – to re-evaluate core competencies within their organisations, which has resulted in a fresh and innovative, and some would even say disruptive new economy.
This is the so-called Gig economy. Otherwise known as the ‘on-demand’ economy or the ‘sharing economy’, and this economic disruption is based on globalisation and technological innovation.
Companies can now lease talent for short bursts of time to complete tasks on a per-project basis, rendering the need for long-term staff redundant. Hence, lowering costs and increasing profits. However, how can companies embrace this growing body of global skills and services in a cost-effective fashion that will complement, not foil, their own long-term business plans and objectives? How can your business succeed with the gig economy?
Examples of the gig economy in the real world include People Per Hour, TaskRabbit, Uber, and AirBnB. They facilitate a transactional platform between freelance talent or assets and consumers (business or the general public). This can be transactions based on asset rental or leasing, or transactions based on labour.
How can business thrive within the gig economy?
How can harnessing this transactional acquisition of talent or assets help your business? Skills shortages are a central dynamic within the evolution of the gig economy. The numbers are massive, according to Personnel Today, the gig economy will add around £45 billion to the UK economy and create nearly a million new jobs in the next decade. This now means that this way of working is becoming more mainstream and not in the fringes of the business community. With unemployment falling but skills shortages growing, the disruptive specialism of the gig economy can help businesses overcome this technical hurdle.
Businesses need to focus on core competencies within their business and plan accordingly. By focussing on what positive effects on-demand workers could have for their business plan, business leaders can utilise the opportunity to save on key resources from office space, enhanced employee costs such as training in order to become more agile in a changing marketplace.
There are negatives, of course, with such disruptive practices. For example, workplace instability can lead to decreased productivity. However, we at redwigwam believe that building long-term partnerships with both workers and hirers can help to articulate a new productivity focus within organisations, as it provides the flexible employment needs of temps by matching their time and skills with the short-term demand of business in this changing economy.
What should companies do next?
redwigwam can help your business utilise the principles of the gig economy via our online booking platform. Simply post a job outlining the task at hand and we’ll match it to the best talent to suit your demands and needs at a cost-effective rate.
Let's chat about how redwigwam can help propel your business into the new gig economy by helping you save money, increase productivity, and reduce overhead costs!
