Hi Everyone,
It's another week and man it's going by fast, but I have so much work to do. Last week while conducting some research I ran into Upwork & FlexJobs online. I've always wanted to get into bookkeeping, however, my time is scarce. I currently work for Florida Virtual School as an adjunct teacher and I've been going to school part-time for lasting two years. Freelancing would allow me to get into the industry without making a significant commitment. I think that this will become a bigger aspect of employment. When companies seek temporary employees they don't have to pay medical cost or contribute to 401k plans. Compensation can be negotiated and employers can select candidates with most experience. Apps allow users to bid on jobs from anywhere. How do you think employment change in the future as a result of technology?
Cornelius, interesting look at the future of the workforce. I came across this article from NPR on the rise of freelance work. It is an interesting business model, essentially moving toward a scalable workforce that is capable of surging when needed and downsizing when not needed. The thing I wonder about with this new arrangement is what happens to company loyalty? When you are hired under contract by the hour, there's not really an incentive for you to go above and beyond the job description; your compensation drives you to do just the bare minimum to satisfy the terms of the contract. And for the contract worker, there are no added benefits from the company. To them, you are just a line item expense on the current project, nothing more. You hope one job would lead to another, but there is no guarantee. Flexible is a good quality to have, but so is stability when you're talking about someone's source of income.
ReplyDeleteGreat article here. I enjoyed reading the content that you discovered. You raised an interesting question regarding loyalty. If I'm being honest I believe employer loyalty has been on the decline for many years. Remember when employers use to offer pension plans and people would work at the same job for 40 plus years. I think the industry has placed an increased emphasis on profits that has employer/employee relationship. I remember when I had my first daughter on the way and I asked my employer for a raise. I had killing it at work and had moved up in the organization. I was told nothing could be done. When I then found a new job paying substantially more my company that couldn't do anything for me before matched my offer. In my mind my loyalty belongs to my family and their well being.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with you about the steady decline in loyalty. There is no doubt that the employee-employer relationship has been deteriorating as companies continue to choose profits over people. I think this new evolution in the contract workforce has the potential to give workers more power but at the same time I worry that the new dynamic will make workers even more disposable, i.e. if you won't do it for less, I'll find someone else who will. I have not experienced it directly, but it may be something I contend with after the military.
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