The on demand economy
In 1998, HBR published an article titled “Dawn of the E-lance economy” by Thomas W. Malone and Robert J. Laubacher of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The authors look at how a new kind of organisation could form the basis of a new kind of economy – an e-lance economy – where all the old rules of business are overturned and big companies are rendered obsolete. They postulate a world in which business is not controlled through a stable chain of management in a large, permanent company. Rather, it is carried out autonomously by independent contractors connected through personal computers and electronic networks.
The next year, Elance, an online staffing company initially developed as a technology for supporting virtual work was launched. 17 years later, after merger with another online staffing platform, it created a resource that consists of 9 million freelancers and 4 million businesses. The Economist predicts that freelance workers available at a moment’s notice will reshape the nature of companies and the structure of careers.
Today, a growing group of entrepreneurs are bringing together computer power with freelance workers to provide on demand services at the click or a swipe. Uber provides chauffeurs, Handy supplies cleaners. SpoonRocket delivers restaurant meals to your door, Instacart keeps your fridge stocked, Medicast will arrange for you a doctor.
InnoCentive will help you fix research and development problems in engineering, computer science and business while Axiom and Eden McCallum will provide you services of lawyers and consultants respectively.
The founders of these companies tapping freelance labour describe their workers as micro-entrepreneurs at the vanguard of a new, flexible future of work in which people only do the jobs they like, but also when they like. The on-demand economy allows society to tap into its under-used resources: thus Uber gets people to rent their own cars, and InnoCentive lets them rent their spare brain capacity.
Our perspective
The definition of a good job as equivalent to being an employee of a large company is the legacy of the 20th century. Globalisation and IT have enabled the emergence of on-demand economy with more rootless and flexible labour force and this may be the dominant work model in the times to come. There will be no employee-employer relationship but a service contract between the two parties for a particular work. As we write this book, one third of the US workforce already consists of independent contractors and freelancers.
The workers in the near future will not be looking for job security, benefits and steady wage rises but would choose chasing their dreams over buying a house. They, like the present workforce, will be eager to learn, work with great companies and teams, and help great leaders to succeed but for them, work is not a cosy place to spend time until they get old but a list of experiences and tasks they want to complete on the journey to their own next big thing.
The workforce of tomorrow will chose journeys over careers. They will work only on projects that are meaningful to them and work for them will be a list of completed tasks and not the time spent at office. Individuals will take on more responsibility for their own personal development and focus on constantly improving their specific skill sets to excel in competitive environments with other solopreneurs around the world. With the globalisation of the skills and increasing ease of travel, more people will be working internationally combining their dreams of traveling with a fulfilling career.
Gazing through the crystal ball
- The formal education system does not equip a vast majority of students to secure meaningful careers. The best way to get ready for a great career is to learn on the job, i.e., apprenticeships. Become an apprentice at the best company/organisation and continue till you significantly know the domain. Thereafter, pick up a job or kick-start entrepreneurship.
- Life and career goals must be achieved together and the ideal career should support life goals (e.g., travel, time with family, community participation, etc.) First, be clear about the life you want, then tailor a career that fits the bill.
- Develop 360 degree view of the chosen career by multidisciplinary skill development for self.
- Develop ‘T’ shaped expertise – deep in one domain but good in a wide range of domains
