The Gig Economy and Beyond: Exploring Alternative Work Models for the Modern Workforce

The global workforce has undergone a dramatic change ever since the pandemic, as organizations were forced to adopt to the circumstances and move towards providing remote working opportunities for its employees and on the other hand, the Gig economy silently but steadily rose to power.

Candidates have the flexibility to work when they can, allowing them to work multiple jobs at a time, either temporary or contract based for a specific amount of time. And organizations also are taking advantage of this modern workforce by hiring specific candidates for specific operations for a short time, allowing them not to invest on full time employees, providing all compliments thus saving them a huge budget they would likely spend.

As a result, the Gig economy is still a workforce model that is evolving as we move every day; some of the IT Gig economies that are revitalizing the market are,

Communication and Relationship

A healthy communication between the employees and the employers has always been a key to building a healthy relationship, and people who are in remote jobs who were told to be a little less productive and highly unlikely to maintain a good communication with others on the team seem to have developed an uninterrupted habit of maintaining that relationship with their colleagues and their team, thanks to the connectivity and specific tools for communication that really helped them to have that engagement when they work with clients around the world.

Talent Management Solutions

As the world is adapting to the new workforce model, the talent management system also must be upgraded, when the demand for gig workers has surged. Finding gig workers means organizations should know where to look for them, and social media platforms have turned out to be a boon for many IT organizations to seek and vet skilled candidates around the world despite of color, race, and geography, allowing for a more diverse workforce. Also, as said earlier, this allows organizations to have the ability to deploy flexible workforce for specific projects, for the required amount of time, saving them a lot of time and money.

Investing in Upskilling and Reskilling

One of the best advantages of having the gig workforce is that these candidates are always finding a way to reskill and upskill themselves as they move forward; since they are not confined to a routine job or time, this provides them the freedom to explore opportunities and acquire skills that match their skillset and interest.

AI and Machine Learning are some of the areas where we see a lot of people trying to upskill themselves to widen their knowledge and ready themselves for the future job market. This pushed them to be a great asset to any organization, hoping to have a more mature and knowledgeable workforce at their disposal.

Considerations

For Gig workers one of the major considerations for them would be the lack of job security, since they are not guaranteed for a full time role anywhere, they have to keep jumping organizations once their contracts get over, while some may be offered to have a contract expansion, not many would have the same privilege, but it is what they signed for and it is what sets them apart from the traditional workforce.

For organizations, the gig economy means a different problem. When they work with gig workers, they are not completely regulated, and they may have access to the organization’s data and many more which could be a security concern. They also do not have policies they are abided by except in their contract clause. Hence, implementation of gig economy also has its drawbacks and organizations should also look into all possible ways that may put them in trouble.

Key Takeaways

It is okay to explore the new workforce, and this is only going to evolve into a bigger phenomenon in the upcoming years; as a result, both the candidates and the organizations should learn to navigate their choices, find suitable ways that will help them and the organization to have a mutual growth. But, for now, the IT gig economy is seem to have find its way into almost every part of the world, paving the way for innovations and providing to work in a diverse environment.