If there was one thing that Part 1 of this blog made crystal clear, it’s that the gig economy is inching closer to the ‘norm’ than the exception.
While full-time employment is still king, many organizations are equipping themselves with practices and frameworks to support the gig economy. Finding the balance between permanent staff and temporary workers is sure to present challenges.
In this blog, we will take a deeper dive into several methods that can help businesses navigate the future hiring challenges presented by the gig economy.
Shifting to Remote Philosophies
Factors such as geography and time are slowly becoming less impactful in a given workforce’s fluidity and productivity. Therefore, more companies than ever will need flexible, multiuser spaces.
For instance, no longer will employees care so much about in-house amenities. As the gig economy grows in prevalence, talent will prefer subscriptions and other solutions that stem from this continual shift. Plus, advanced virtual technology with continual access will be a must.
The Critical Role of Real Estate Strategies
Physical locations should account for the way a given organization intends to leverage the gig economy.
Provided that 20%-30% of your workforce will be gig-based, then you don’t require the same amount of space as before. This will save you unnecessary overhead.
Still, there’s the matter of cultural impact within your organization. How will you maintain continuity and cohesiveness when you rely heavily on gig workers?
There’s a pressing need to extract the most value from workforces, workplaces, and changing strategies. How will your organization bridge the gaps caused by the gig economy while harnessing its undeniable strengths?
Use Data to Make Informed Decisions
All industries will require their own unique strategies when utilizing the gig economy.
While some companies will rely upon contract work, others might benefit more from freelance or remote full-time employees. Some organizations might prefer gig-working individuals, while others might need to outsource work to full teams.
There might be some trial and error in this process. You must then compare data based on performance, effectiveness, and efficiency to pinpoint the most valuable models, teams, and departments.
Other data to consider is rooted in workplace operations and maintenance.
With the future workforce veering away from the physical office, building utilization data is vital. This informs decision-makers about peak usage hours.
This approach will guide your real estate investments, space scheduling, amenity choices, and energy-efficiency practices.
Expanding Geographical Reach
There’s a sea of opportunities previously unavailable to companies with the rise of the gig economy.
Most beneficial might be access to a far more diverse talent pool across the globe. Suddenly, you’re able to bring on supremely skilled individuals no matter their location. Whether the ideal candidate is down the street or in Antarctica, you could hire them for a “gig.”
Best of all? Matters such as data security, quality assurance, immigration-based regulations, and other liabilities become less concerning than traditional employment.
Catering Policies and Benefits to the Gig Economy
There are many concerns about gig workers being mistreated due to their temporary status.
It then becomes critical for organizations to reconsider how they focus their policies and benefits, moving away from the traditional employee model.
Gig workers are very aware that they’re not offered the same luxuries as full-time staff. With these professionals growing in numbers, drawing the benefit/policy short straw won’t sit well, which is why full-time employment is still king…for now.
While the future of work appears to be rooted in the gig economy, there’s still a growing need for permanent staff, especially in leadership positions.
If your organization is struggling to navigate the gig economy, perhaps working with an experienced global recruiting firm like Kuhn Global Talent can help find the superior talent you need to continue growing your team.
At Kuhn Global Talent, we’re always open to helping organizations find the absolute best talent they need to be successful. Whether you’re looking for a full-time edition to your team or help from some qualified & reliable gig workers — Kuhn is your recruiting partner.
If you have any questions about the gig economy, full-time employment, or global recruitment, call Jim Kuhn for a brief, no-cost consultation on recruiting for your open leadership positions across the world.
About Kuhn Global Talent
Kuhn Global Talent is a global search firm, and has effectively completed hundreds of searches since 2011 and provided clients with extraordinary recruiting investment value. Jim’s global business knowledge and cross-cultural agility are particularly valued by U.S.-based companies building leadership teams in the US and other countries, and by non-U.S. companies desiring a cross-culturally sensitive search approach to confidential searches in their home countries and in their U.S.-based affiliates.
