From Labourers to Playbourers - Unleashing The Decentralised Workforce

This is a summary of a 3000 word essay, which you can read in full here “Unleashing the Decentralised Workforce”. If you enjoyed this, then please subscribe to the Workforce Futurist Newsletter for new posts direct to your inbox.

There are many ways to earn in 2020 - from labourers to playbourers, carers to sharers and preachers to teachers.. A job contract with the associated boss, fixed hours, and salary is not the answer for everyone.

53% of the world's working-age women were not in the labour force in 2019. International Labour Organization

Economists might categorise those without jobs as ‘inactive’ but they DO work - it’s just not recognised or monetised. This untapped resource is a big opportunity to boost the global economy and improve social justice. 

The Emerging Decentralised Workforce

An emerging globally decentralised workforce extends well beyond the traditional concepts of jobs and organisations, and includes:

The Playbourers – as you might have guessed, this term is a hybrid for of play and labour. Found specifically in the digital games industry. We have YouTuber influencers and modders getting paid to play games. Watch out for new virtual economies being built by the generation brought up on Minecraft, TikTok and Fortnite.

The Slashies as in...

I love being a Writer/Speaker/Advisor/Activist/Slashie

Those working across different types of jobs to make a living.   

The Unpaid Workers - if American women earned minimum wage for the unpaid work they do around the house and caring for relatives, they would have made $1.5 trillion last year. This includes time spent doing routine housework, shopping for necessary household goods and child care. As a society, we need to recognise the kind of work that supports our collective well-being.

Greater workforce inclusion, for example, the Neurodiverse Workforce - up to 80% of individuals on the autism spectrum do not have a job. Job interviews are a weak predictor of subsequent job performance and introduce bias. For autistic people, job interviews can be a nightmare. 

The Livestreamers are broadcasting user-created video in real-time like on gaming platforms such as Twitch, or non-gaming like Caffeine for interactive shows. Some popular individual content creators are being paid $500k/month, with most it might be more like $500 as a hobby or additional income stream.

The Content Creators - it is estimated that those producing comics, photographs, and stories on Patreon paid its members approximately $1 billion in 2019, with more than 50,000 creators joining since mid-March. Writers are also paid with subscriptions on SteamIt, Medium, and Substack for newsletters.

The Teachers and Coaches – nearly 500 course creators on Teachable make more than $100k/year. Outschool, an online marketplace for live video classes in which teachers are predominantly former school teachers and stay-at-home parents.

The Platform Workers - you are familiar with platform-driven gig work, such as Lyft, Uber, TaskRabbit.  Upwork has reported services volume up 15% year-over-year, and its research shows Remote Work has risen rapidly as a result of the pandemic according.

The Data Labourers – we benefit from using services such as Google search or maps, or Facebook messenger. We don’t pay for these services directly with cash, but there is a catch. These companies are mainly funded by advertising and would be nothing without the attention of our eyeballs and our tap-tap-tapping.

The Hourly Experts - the global consulting industry has changed over the last few decades, you can hire an expert for an hour or two. See companies like Talmix, Toptal, Gigster, Deep Bench and Experty.

Then there are the few million Digital Shopkeepers, using Shopify (with 1 million stores alone), Amazon, eBay and Etsy, or other platforms to keep a digital shop open.

There is obvious overlap between these groups of digital workers, and this is not meant to be comprehensive. I'm not suggesting that the life of the livestreaming slashie is for everyone of course.

It will be the 'Passion Economy' for some, but for many these alternative forms of income are essential to pay the rent, or to care for the family.

Questions for Workforce Futurists

As work unbundles, it will be reconstituted into new forms and also refresh some older ones we are more familiar with. This poses some questions for workforce futurists.  

• What types of new organisations will emerge? 
• What’s left of the firm? 
• How do we design work? 
• What type of leadership do we need?
• What does this mean for Careers? 

We now have the technology, capability, finance, talent, and burning need to build amazing new organisations.

As we redefine work in the digital covid age, we can liberate the untapped human potential of the decentralised workforce.

Work is not dead. In fact, our most important work is yet to come - rebuilding a resilient, fair, and prosperous society.

Find Out More

Thank you for reading this article, if you enjoyed it, you might like to

• Read the full essay here "Unleashing the Decentralised Workforce"
• Subscribe to the new Workforce Futurist Newsletter for regular updates on related themes
• Spread the word which helps to support my research, and is much appreciated!

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The Personal Data Backlash - Next Up Recruitment? How secure is your personal career data really?

What Has The Internet Ever Done for HR? With some help from Monty Python, we look back at the benefits and flaws of the internet, and how that shapes the next decade.

The Campaign for Meaningful Work In a decentralised workforce with digital nomads and freelancers working alongside those with contracted jobs we still need to provide meaningful work. But what is it and how do we design it?

The Quantified Workplace:Technology vs Trust? Since this article was published, me and Jo have been on a global road trip in our BUG driverless car from Sydney to St.Petersburg via Singapore to Sarasota.

#WorkforceFuturist #DigitalTransformation #FutureOfWork #HRTransformation #TechForGood #Careers #GigEconomy #Blockchain

About the Author - Andrew Spence

Andy's passion is helping to build the next generation of work, making it much better and collaborating with like-minded people.

He advises employers, foundations and start-up/scale-ups in different industries.

His recent research has included publication of "Blockchain and the CHRO" with Don Tapscott, and he has recognition in the HR and Technology industry. 

Before the pandemic, he was spotted speaking at events in Australia, Russia, Singapore, USA, UK, France, Netherlands, China and Italy. Now you can see him on a small screen, listening through your headphones, or by connecting on LinkedIn or Twitter.