The gig economy today is not a choice of wanting to be a 1099 worker. It’s work on top of other employment.
Fred Goff – CEO Jobcase
Excessive and conspicuous consumption have been the expectation and norm in many western economies. We believed buying lots of unneeded stuff based on compulsion would make us happy, but resulted in a lot idle stuff or wasteful overcapacity. Global compulsive consumption is nearing its limits and giving rise to the sharing economy. This is called de-growth.
The sharing economy is also called the collaborative, subscription, peer-to-peer, or sharing. And, it’s grown exponentially. Take a look at auto, tool, and even clothes sharing. Auto sharing companies such as Uber and Lyft were unknown ten years ago. They now have capitalizations of $120 billion for Uber and $20 billion for Lyft. Look at Airbnb the room sharing company. By the way, Uber and Lyft have never made money. And, they are everywhere.
If you want a logo design or a house cleaned, there’s an app for that. The apps allow a customer and supplier to come together, negotiate the scope of work, and decide on a flat fee for doing the work. Fast, simple, and direct buyer-seller relationships, that are often off the books.
Sharing economy is also changing work. The online platforms such as Uber have displaced taxi companies throughout the world. And, disruptees are not going down without a fight. Taxi companies are organizing strikes, filing lawsuits, and leaning on regulators for protection.
And, this foreshadows change in traditional work arrangements. Driverless cars or autonomous vehicles as they’re called are coming fast. So, what’ll happen to Uber and truck drivers? Great question. No one really knows. However, their work, careers, and jobs will be disrupted. Maybe, Uber drivers may evolve into automation co-pilots.
Work Lesson Earned: Key questions arise: How are large and global companies adapting to COVID work disruption? How is government adapting? Finally, how are you going to adapt. Large companies viscerally understand they don’t want be the carriage manufacturer of the autonomous age.