Gig Firms Divided Over Workers’ Rights, 5 Gig Stocks, Body Language Recommendations for Zoom, 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 believe that every organization in every industry needs a Gig Economy strategy. Not having one in 2021 is like missing the internet trend in 1990 or the mobile revolution 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.

Gig economy firms divided over workers' rights - Australian gig economy giants are resisting union efforts to make their workers "employees" — with rights to the minimum wage and injury compensation — but have offered other concessions as their British arms either opt to change workers' status or face financial consequences.

5 Gig Stocks for the Rapidly Changing Economy - Whether I call myself a freelance writer, independent contractor, or solo entrepreneur, I am considered a "gig worker." The idea behind the gig economy is not to be tied to a single job or even a skill but to have the freedom to look for new money-making opportunities.

Uber, Cautiously Open To Minimum Pay Talks In Australia - Uber Technologies, Inc. has rejected claims that drivers in Australia are being paid well below minimum wage but left the door open to supporting a push to guarantee base pay.

After IPO, gig-work fintech Payfare targets ambitious expansion - A Toronto fintech offering bank accounts that get gig workers paid faster plans to use the money from its "massively oversubscribed" initial public offering to fund ambitious expansion plans. "It's not just large workforces that represent the gig economy [that] we would target," said Marco Margiotta, chief executive officer at Payfare, in an interview with The Logic. "There's other areas of opportunity where our same business model can be applied."

Europe could be seeing the decline of its gig economy. And new rules could mean higher prices - Uber's loss in the U.K. Supreme Court last month forced the company to reclassify 70,000 of its British drivers as workers. In Spain, legislators have introduced a raft of measures to recategorize gig workers as employees with formal contracts and benefits. All the while, the European Commission, the E.U.'s executive arm, is thrashing out plans for some regional reform on gig economy workers.

The Hybrid Workplace

We see unprecedented numbers of companies implementing remote work programs. The way we work has forever changed and will require new skills and leadership approaches.

Is your body language over Zoom sending the wrong signs? - For many, social interaction during the pandemic has been limited to video calls or other digital communications, making it difficult to read a room. Whether you're on a conference call or doing a virtual happy hour, NBC News investigative and consumer correspondent Vicky Nguyen has some tips on how to decode body language for your next video call, no matter how many screen freezes or audio glitches get in the way.

Automation will accelerate decentralization and digital transformation - As societies reemerge from lockdown, customer and employee experiences will become a digital/in-person hybrid largely enabled by workflow automation. Given their proximity to changing customer needs, service teams provide a window into how workflow automation can unlock transformation across the business.

Employees Balk at End to Remote Work: 'Going Back to the Office Is Stupid" - As the pace of COVID-19 vaccinations accelerates and states loosen restrictions, employers have slowly begun calling their employees back to the workplace. But what might have been a hopeful sign that life is returning to normalcy has instead become a source of friction as some workers push back. They are fearful of getting infected, worried about caring for kids still learning remotely, and resisting going back to the 9-to-5 in-office grind after tasting the flexibility of working from home.

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.

 Wellness vs. Wellbeing: What's the Difference? - Wellness describes a healthy lifestyle beyond acute illness. It refers to a state of physical health in which people have the ability and energy to do what they want to do in life without chronic suffering. Although wellness means something different at every stage of life, it's primarily supported by eating, physical activity, and quality sleep, leading to positive health outcomes.

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 95,000 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.