Collective Launches "Back Office" for Freelancers, Secret Struggles of Introverts, Remote Work Style, and More...

 There are approximately 60 million Independent workers in the United States, representing $1.5 trillion in U.S. GDP and growing. Projections estimate that 50% of our U.S. workforce will be independent workers by 2025- 2030. The Gig Economy represents a trend that will digitally transform how organizations engage with talent.

I continue to believe that not having a Gig Economy Strategy in 2020 is like not embracing the internet in 1990 or the mobile revolution mobile in 2010.

The Freelance Revolution

The rise of independent contractors and globalization of knowledge work is the Industrial Revolution of our time. Everywhere we look, we can see the U.S. workforce undergoing a massive and structural change.

Fact check: Do Uber, Lyft drivers, want out of California's gig economy law? - Jim Pyatt and Carlos Ramos live in the Central Valley and drive for gig companies in the Bay Area. But their thoughts on Prop. 22, which would keep gig workers such as Uber and Lyft as independent contractors, are worlds apart.

How the Coronavirus Has Changed Freelancing – A significant share of the labor force began freelancing for the first time at the coronavirus pandemic's onset. Meanwhile, social distancing measures led traditional gig workers to cut back on work, according to an annual study of the freelance workforce.

Despite Covid, 90% firms not cutting on digital transformation budgets, finds survey - In a global study titled 'Digital Readiness and Covid-19: Assessing the Impact', TCS spoke to 300 senior business leaders from large enterprises — 97 percent with revenue above $1 billion and 44 percent above $10 billion — spanning 11 industries across North America, Europe, and Asia. The report pointed out that while 68 percent of companies have seen revenue decline amid Covid-19, 90 percent of organizations have either maintained or increased their digital transformation budget.

Collective launches to be the ultimate 'back office' platform for freelancers - The U.S. freelance economy is booming, according to a recent Upwork report. More than a third of the country's workforce carrying out some form of freelance work in the past 12 months, reportedly creating $1.2 trillion in economic value — up 22% on the previous year.

Suddenly Distributed

We see unprecedented numbers of companies implement emergency remote work programs. I will be dedicating this section of the newsletter to Tips and tricks from the home front as many knowledge workers go remote during the pandemic.

Working remotely could become permanent - Workers might never have to get out of their sweatpants. The coronavirus pandemic has pushed about 2,500 employees tied to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, its related clinics, and physician groups to work remotely — a situation that will persist into 2021.

Microsoft is letting more employees work from home permanently - Microsoft is allowing more of its employees to work from home permanently, the company announced Friday. While the vast majority of Microsoft employees are still working from home during the ongoing pandemic, the software maker has unveiled "hybrid workplace" guidance internally to allow for far greater flexibility once U.S. offices eventually reopen.

The secret struggles of introverts in a remote workforce - When you think about it, however, working from home may have its perks for introverts who tend to recharge away from crowded social environments, but it can also have its pitfalls. A study by Greater Divide recently showed those who identified as introverted were more likely to experience mental health issues during quarantine, a time when work-from-home orders were at an all-time high than their extroverted peers.

Remote Work Is Here To Stay. So Why Not Do It In Style? - By now, many of us have accepted the idea that office life as we know it is never coming back. At least not for the foreseeable future. And even if it does, it may look very different from what we're used to. Remote working has been our reality for the last six months, and it may well continue to be until a COVID-19 vaccine is developed.

Workplace Wellness 

We will spend one-third of our lives working, and the disruption to the way we work has never moved faster. This all can impact our overall wellness as we navigate the changing landscape and fight for balance. 

Workplace Strategies to Combat Pandemic-Related Stress - The coronavirus pandemic has led to a record economic upheaval that has shaken businesses to their roots. The global business closures and economic inactivity has caused many employers to offer pay cuts, reduce workforce strength, or shut down all operations. Consequently, as companies ask their workers to return to work, employees have to deal with higher stress levels than before the pandemic.

PAUL ESTES, the best selling author of the newly released book Gig Mindset and is an unstoppable advocate for the simple idea of ensuring that all voices are heard and that all people have access to opportunity. This passion is inspired by the quote from the late Leila Janah "Talent is equally distributed, opportunity is not." Now is the time to address systemic location bias and encourage companies to reach beyond their organizational boundaries to engage the world's best minds.  For 20 years, He struggled to balance his life with fast-moving leadership roles at Dell, Amazon, and Microsoft. He led a team of progressive H.R., procurement, and legal trailblazers to launch Microsoft's Gig Economy freelance program. Hiring his first virtual assistant transformed the way he lived and worked.

Paul is the former host of the Gig Mindset and The Talent Economy podcast. Each week, Paul provides insights and perspective to over 90,000 readers of his weekly LinkedIn newsletter, and he frequently shares his insights as a keynote speaker and panelist. He has nine pending patents in content and collaboration related to the on-demand economy.