Getty ImagesBy Lloyd Mathias
A full time job with one employer has been the norm for decades but increasingly this does not capture how an increasing share of the workforce makes a living. Even as the workplace is rapidly readjusting to changing demographics and the needs of the millennials – the group of people born between 1980 and 2000, who grew up with access to the internet and digital technology including social networks, smartphones, tablets – India, with the world’s youngest workforce comprising nearly a fifth of the worlds’ millennials, is struggling to keep pace.
Millennials or Gen Y, comprising 34 per cent of India’s population are already 45 per cent of the Indian workforce and by 2025 this number is expected to reach 75 per cent. More than the statistics, it is the mindset of these millennials and the rapidly changing environment that should concern policy makers and corporate leaders.
For this group, the line between work and play has blurred. The never offline and always available workplace, is all they know. Given their always-on approach to life, millennials see no problem with blending work and life. Checking email even before they get out of bed in the morning, then shopping online while at work, exchanging texts and taking conference calls with co-workers after office hours, and then catching up with office mail on a weekend is native to them.
Not surprisingly, millennials are concerned about work-life balance. According to a 2016 Millennial Survey by Deloitte, 16.8 per cent of millennials evaluate career opportunities by good work-life balance, followed by 13.4 per cent who look for opportunities to progress, and 11 per cent who seek flexibility. Companies where millennial talent is a significant part of the workforce, are implementing initiatives like relaxed dress codes and flexi-time to attract, retain and engage with this group. In today’s employee market, options of a better work-life balance for millennials is a compelling competitive advantage.
Organisations under pressure to drive earnings are downsizing and cost cutting, resulting in professionals opting for flexible arrangements out of choice or circumstance. This combination is accelerating the gig economy – a labour market characterised by the prevalence of short-term contracts or independent ‘freelance’ work as opposed to permanent jobs. This open talent economy is a way to work in a technology enabled market where businesses and professionals collaborate for a particular project. A McKinsey study has estimated that up to 20-30 per cent of the workforce in developed markets is engaged in independent work.
Digital platforms are transforming independent work, by providing efficient marketplaces for the large pool of workers and customers on the back of the growing reach of mobile devices. Today these online marketplaces are in their infancy but are expected to grow exponentially as independent workers and the share of millennials in the workforce grow and organisations realign themselves.
For organisations this new employee model helps lower fixed costs, reduces overhead through limiting long term medical expense and leave costs, enhances flexibility by having term and project based contracts per need, and helps them acquire specialised talent for specific needs. Embracing the gig economy helps organisations blend inter nal full time talent with short ter m specialists. An organisation’s ability to engage with talent on an on-demand basis will need nimbleness and internal alignment and could radically drive efficiencies, reduce cost and reshape the way businesses work.
Some organisations are shifting to a ‘Results Only Work Environment’ – where team members are measured by performance, results, or output rather than physical presence in an office or numbers of hours worked. According to the Global Contingent Workforce Study by EY, 20 per cent of organisations globally with more than 1,000 employees have a workforce that is made up of 30 per cent or more contingent workers.
The gig economy is rapidly evolving on the back of digital platforms that facilitate direct and even real-time connections between customers who need a service performed and workers willing to provide that service. However, to enable this ecosystem to be fair and sustainable, academia, government and enlightened employers will need to come together to set standards, develop workforce retraining programmes, create collaborative learning systems and ensure no undue exploitation. We already saw the government caught flat footed when taxi drivers affiliated to an app based taxi service provider went on a strike to protest harsh conditions, inconsistent wages and lack of stability.
The gig economy could have larger benefits for the country, cushioning unemployment, improving labour force participation stimulating demand and raising productivity. But workers have to recognise that the key skill they need is adaptability and the preparedness to move across industries and roles.
(The writer is a business and marketing strategist)
A full time job with one employer has been the norm for decades but increasingly this does not capture how an increasing share of the workforce makes a living. Even as the workplace is rapidly readjusting to changing demographics and the needs of the millennials – the group of people born between 1980 and 2000, who grew up with access to the internet and digital technology including social networks, smartphones, tablets – India, with the world’s youngest workforce comprising nearly a fifth of the worlds’ millennials, is struggling to keep pace.
Millennials or Gen Y, comprising 34 per cent of India’s population are already 45 per cent of the Indian workforce and by 2025 this number is expected to reach 75 per cent. More than the statistics, it is the mindset of these millennials and the rapidly changing environment that should concern policy makers and corporate leaders.
For this group, the line between work and play has blurred. The never offline and always available workplace, is all they know. Given their always-on approach to life, millennials see no problem with blending work and life. Checking email even before they get out of bed in the morning, then shopping online while at work, exchanging texts and taking conference calls with co-workers after office hours, and then catching up with office mail on a weekend is native to them.
Not surprisingly, millennials are concerned about work-life balance. According to a 2016 Millennial Survey by Deloitte, 16.8 per cent of millennials evaluate career opportunities by good work-life balance, followed by 13.4 per cent who look for opportunities to progress, and 11 per cent who seek flexibility. Companies where millennial talent is a significant part of the workforce, are implementing initiatives like relaxed dress codes and flexi-time to attract, retain and engage with this group. In today’s employee market, options of a better work-life balance for millennials is a compelling competitive advantage.
Organisations under pressure to drive earnings are downsizing and cost cutting, resulting in professionals opting for flexible arrangements out of choice or circumstance. This combination is accelerating the gig economy – a labour market characterised by the prevalence of short-term contracts or independent ‘freelance’ work as opposed to permanent jobs. This open talent economy is a way to work in a technology enabled market where businesses and professionals collaborate for a particular project. A McKinsey study has estimated that up to 20-30 per cent of the workforce in developed markets is engaged in independent work.
Digital platforms are transforming independent work, by providing efficient marketplaces for the large pool of workers and customers on the back of the growing reach of mobile devices. Today these online marketplaces are in their infancy but are expected to grow exponentially as independent workers and the share of millennials in the workforce grow and organisations realign themselves.
For organisations this new employee model helps lower fixed costs, reduces overhead through limiting long term medical expense and leave costs, enhances flexibility by having term and project based contracts per need, and helps them acquire specialised talent for specific needs. Embracing the gig economy helps organisations blend inter nal full time talent with short ter m specialists. An organisation’s ability to engage with talent on an on-demand basis will need nimbleness and internal alignment and could radically drive efficiencies, reduce cost and reshape the way businesses work.
Some organisations are shifting to a ‘Results Only Work Environment’ – where team members are measured by performance, results, or output rather than physical presence in an office or numbers of hours worked. According to the Global Contingent Workforce Study by EY, 20 per cent of organisations globally with more than 1,000 employees have a workforce that is made up of 30 per cent or more contingent workers.
The gig economy is rapidly evolving on the back of digital platforms that facilitate direct and even real-time connections between customers who need a service performed and workers willing to provide that service. However, to enable this ecosystem to be fair and sustainable, academia, government and enlightened employers will need to come together to set standards, develop workforce retraining programmes, create collaborative learning systems and ensure no undue exploitation. We already saw the government caught flat footed when taxi drivers affiliated to an app based taxi service provider went on a strike to protest harsh conditions, inconsistent wages and lack of stability.
The gig economy could have larger benefits for the country, cushioning unemployment, improving labour force participation stimulating demand and raising productivity. But workers have to recognise that the key skill they need is adaptability and the preparedness to move across industries and roles.
(The writer is a business and marketing strategist)
