Building workplaces of the future
How COVID 19 has eroded the gig economy, and what the future of work looks like
We are only just drawing close to the end of March, but it feels like a long year already. The first three months of 2020 have been nothing short of a roller coaster ride, full of ups and downs. Business uncertainty, market crashes, and extreme climate change are just the tip of the iceberg. The real challenge that all of us around the globe have been facing, is the global COVID 19 pandemic. It’s no laughing matter, as the effects of a single microorganism have taken the entire world storm. The effects are not just limited to disrupting personal lives as well. With more than 10,000 global and more than 200 cases in India, it’s gone well beyond that and caused a direct hit to business.
It has also caused significant damage to the gig economy. Over the last few years, more and more people have embraced the culture of working independently as compared to having that stable 9 to 5 corporate job. And this is true especially for the younger section of the workforce, i.e. the millennial generation.
Structured payroll jobs may be more stable, but freelancing offers better opportunities. More than 30% of the working youth population in the USA and across Europe opt for working models that operate on multiple income streams rather than a fixed job. These are the people who are as ambitious as you and me, but not willing to commit to a traditional career path. These are also the people who according to McKinsey are more satisfied with their line of work than most others. For organizations, this means every resource is as good as an SBU.
As most traditional businesses struggle to continue business as usual, employees all across are dealing with the stress of layoffs, economic uncertainty and lack of incentives. And this is a problem, especially for those workers who have families to support. In recent weeks, some gig-economy companies have responded by offering basic sick leave provisions and cleaning products like hand sanitizer for drivers.
Uber and Lyft have ensured to pay workers for 14 days of work if they have a coronavirus diagnosis and need to stay home. Not all workforce has the privilege of working from home, and this is quite an eye-opener for business leaders to think upon. On one hand, we may feel like we have come a long way, but this is the time to actually measure the progress and advancements we have made. So how do we make things work for these people who work independently, but still need our support?
The scenario may appear bleak at first, but every cloud has a silver lining, and for my cloud, that silver lining is bordered by technology. We live in a world that is constantly changing, and most of these changes today are digitally driven. In the age of the fourth industrial revolution fuelled by digital transformation, all hope is not lost yet. Rather, this is the time when digital first cultures will finally spread far and wide.
For business leaders in IT and enterprise services, the focus now needs to lie on the new-age tech that can create solutions even in the absence of physical presence. Cloud, automation and data analytics thus have a role more important than ever. Digital engines built on the philosophy of collaboration and governed by the cloud are the need of the hour. Creating and building these engines step by step should thus be a top priority for business leaders. At a time when the pandemic has forced its way into every industry possible, new-age solutions focused on collaboration are successfully enabling end to end development and deployment. Putting our faith in tech and working from there is the first step towards building the workplaces of the future, and I do believe that we’ll get there if we continue to disrupt!