D
Dexterity | Catalyst
Like the companies that employ them, contingent
workers often prefer to work with a small number
of clients with whom they can establish positive and
longer-term relationships.
According to Jones, “it’s in both parties’ interests
to work on this, managing, for example, the
necessary breaks in service to avoid falling foul
of any law, and contributing to cultures where
partnership and collaboration become the norm.”
The development and engagement of freelancers
needs to be an integral part of any company’s
talent strategy.
“Low-income households are more
likely to participate in independent
work out of necessity”
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Implications for public policy
In 2016, the McKinsey Global Institute published
the results of a large-scale survey in Independent
Work: Choice, Necessity, and the Gig Economy. The
report categorised what it calls “independent”
workers into four segments: free agents and casual
earners, independent workers by choice, compared
with reluctants and the financially strapped, who are
driven to contingent working by economic necessity.
The data show that while two-thirds of independent
workers – the free agents and casual earners – do so
through choice and report high levels of satisfaction,
the experience of the reluctants and financially
strapped presents a less optimistic picture. Most
would prefer the stability of permanent employment,
and, worryingly, low-income households are more
likely to participate in independent work out of
necessity. For example, the McKinsey data picks up
an atypical spike in independent working among
younger people in Spain, undoubtedly a function of
long-term youth unemployment there.