The gig economy: A
challenge to the old order
Traditionally, to gain entrance into the
corporate world, the norm is to apply
for a job, go through the recruitment
process and eventually sign an offer of
employment letter. Holding a permanent
job with one organization for a long
time was the definition of success. But
the definition of success has evolved in
recent years to include working for 4-5
companies at the same time. The new
success is termed the gig economy and
is an important aspect of the sharing
economy. This describes scenarios where
self-employed or freelance workers take-
on several projects for different clients,
rather than being an employee of a firm.
The gig economy includes freelancers,
contingent, diversified and temporary
workers.
The entrance of the millennials into
the workforce brought about different
employee demands on their employers
such as flexibility in relation to how,
where and when they work. These set of
employees have opted for Work-Life blend
in the absence of Work-Life balance. They
are less interested in joining the rush
hour traffic to and from the office while
dressed in a prescribed attire every day of
the week. They desire to work from the
comfort of their homes and deliver their
assigned tasks at the agreed deadlines.
It is therefore time for Human Resource
experts in Africa, especially Nigeria, private
and government agencies to start devising
strategies that leverage technology to
meet the desire of this generation, in a bid
to attract and retain them.
For organizations, the desirable worker
is one with ready-made skills and
knowledge to deliver on the job without
the organization incurring training cost.
This means that individuals coming into
the gig economy will have to bear the cost
of honing and improving their skills to stay
competitive.
33
The Corvus | September 2019