The rise of the gig economy is set to alter
the recruitment industry. To stay ahead
of this disruption, formal organizations
need to consider integrating this into their
structures. Organizations should leverage
technology and digital platforms (Asuqu,
Yokebay, etc.) to accelerate the process
of recruitment given the huge number
of candidates. As more workers turn to
this type of employment, there is a need
for organizations to leverage their brand
name to attract the brightest, top and
highly skilled workers before they are take up the conventional jobs because of
the benefits it offers such as pension, but
simultaneously work in the gig economy
despite signing a code of conduct or
an equivalent agreement that prohibits
it. This set of workers make up what is
known as the hybrid workforce as they
are of the gig economy but retain their
full-time employment. This raises some
concerns that should be considered in
the drafting and preparation of employee
onboarding documents to accommodate
such Hybrid employees. This set of skilled
workers don’t want to add value to one
big organization, they are aware that
their skills can also help smaller businesses
grow while they enjoy another stream of
income. To reduce the risk associated with the
gig economy, organizations should
adequately classify these workers to avoid
worker misclassification - a term used to
describe a situation where organizations
classify a worker as an independent
contractor whereas the person meets
the legal definition of an employee. As
Rebecca Cenni-Leventhal, Founder and
CEO of Atrium Staffing, a staffing and
recruitment firm, noted that the word
“hire” should not be used to describe
the working arrangements with ‘giggers’
to avoid legal actions. Thus, the word
‘contract’ should replace ‘hire’ when
describing the gig economy.
snapped up by the competition, as more
giggers will go for more flexible time,
more pay and well-established brands.
In a tight talent market, organizations
will do well to rethink the way they
look at talent acquisition and talent
compensation. In the wake of the gig
economy, it has become apparent that
the best person for the job might not be
willing to take up a conventional job. On
the other hand, there are those who will To attract gig workers in general, employers
need to understand them in terms of who
they are, what they are looking for and
most importantly, tailor job descriptions to
fit them. Gig workers are either attracted
by independence, creativity, high pay-
outs/handouts (in the case of knowledge-
based gigs) or by flexibility and the ability
to set their own schedule (in the case of
service-based gigs), not just by employee
benefits such as pensions. The Gig Economy in
Africa: A Focus on Nigeria
The Gig Economy: HR
and legal implications on
formal structures
The Sharing Concept: Optimisation over Multiplication
In a 2018 research conducted by
Payoneer, a financial service firm, where
over 21,000 freelancers were interviewed,
it was reported that Africa held 10.1% of
the world’s freelancers. This indicates that
although the pace at which freelancing
is growing in African countries is not the
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