Gig Economy and the Future of Work

NIPM Karnataka Chapter, for its last meeting of the year, December 2018, met at the St Joseph's Institute of Management, Bangalore.The speaker was Augustus.G.s Azariah, Associate Director (HR), IBM, India. As the subject of the talk is about the 'Gig' economy, it is essential  to understand what this means before we proceed further-  Gig economy refers to a labour market characterized by the prevalence of short-term contracts or freelance work as opposed to permanent jobs. working in the gig economy could also mean constantly being subjected to last-minute scheduling. 

In order to set the tone for the discussion, the speaker shared the experience of a senior executive Rukmini (not her real name) aged 42 years who was considered an achiever, in terms of  her  contribution thus far, for her multinational employer. However, one day she found a message on the monitor at her desk which read " Click here if you want to be relevant. Where you are now? Where you can go with additional certifications?.

The message was clear. No matter what her contribution in the past, she was ill qualified for the present requirements. She can either accept the challenge or end up without a job. Although, initially devastated, Rukmini decided to take the option of  becoming relevant. She soon began to enjoy the process and started investing more and more on herself and acquired additional certifications. Three months later, she not only got the congratulatory note but was offered more opportunities than was originally targeted. Subsequently Rukmini was able to position herself as a freelancer with various talents and skills. Her reputation and prestige also went up several notches on Linkedin and social media.   

I would now like to place before readers the matters discussed in a brief bullet point style.

• Short term contract or free lance work is here to stay- Its form can be seen in Uber, Ola, Swiggy. Zomato and others.
• Interesting to note that recent strike by Ola and Uber drivers was not for permanent employment status but for better remuneration, better Km rate and dynamic pricing based on fuel prices. 
• The focus and expectations now is on safety net- social security for all rather than a permanent job.
• Work, talented work force, demand etc. are the drivers today.
• "Work" is no longer a "Place"- The amazing web and collaboration tools has made it possible to work from anywhere.
• Competition for jobs is not limited from only those who live in the area, where you live.
• Similarly, vendors and contractors could be from across the world.
• No organization is going to guarantee a life long career.
• No one pays you for a degree.Skills will be the new currency. 
• Personal branding and social eminence is important. Using social media is a must to stand out.
• The future of work would be "On demand".
• Informal education will be high with more of learning on the job- A"Fail fast" mindset is expected so that not too much time is lost, in applying the required competence.
• More of coaching and webinars online 
• The decision would be between Hiring new employees Vs Contract relationships 
• The future of work would see collaboration of independent individuals with unique talents coming together for a project and moving on to another, after completion of project as in the case of a movie production. They may ask for compensation structures linked to the fate of the project- A cut in case of huge success. 
• Virtual teams cutting across time, space and organizational boundaries- Talent equity exchanges and talent swapping as done by IPL cricket teams.
• The future will also throw up challenges in aspects of trust, passion, integrity, freedom, data privacy, confidentiality and regulatory challenges.
• Experts will go up the value chain from doers to consultants
• The performance of a gig worker will be determined socially, in terms of social eminence.
• All this is all the more important, relevant and of concern to Indians since by 2020, as many as 325 million Indians will reach the working age. 

The speaker in this evening talk  played the role of a futurologist, a la Alvin Toffler, author of the book " Future Shock". However, his job was a lot less complicated than Toffler's as in 2018, many of the predictions for the "Future" have begun happening in the "Present".The far reaching predictions of Toffler  was made in 1970,  at a time no one seriously imagined that they would happen, in the near future.. Overall, an interesting evening, that underscored the need for Gen Next, the Gig workers, to be flexible and ever prepared for the unexpected!