Rise of the Flexible Economy

The rise of the flexible economy is giving us a curtain-raiser of the future of work and working time. Full-time employment will gradually come down and the new wave of Part-Time and working for multiple employers will be the new normal. Covid19 crises have given another thrust to the rise of Part-time employment as millions of people have lost the jobs and employers are also reluctant to hire permanent employees because of uncertainties lies ahead because of the corona crisis. The earlier increasing trend of uberization of employment has now become the forced need.

The future is one in which people won’t just have one full-time job, but we are going to see the rise of people working for multiple jobs at the same time, which may be equivalent to full-time hours. Platforms like OnBenchMark.com are creating a new and simplified way of getting part-time jobs, unlike conventional freelancing websites, which makes the process of getting Part-Time work more complicated.

Flexible working is a new form of workspace and in the coming years, approximately 67% of the workforce is going to take up their work under Flexible Economy. Tony Killick has mentioned in his book that the Flexible Economy Cause and consequences of the Adaptability of National Economics, said that adaptability and flexibility are crucial qualities for the economy to thrive. The IT industries have an increasing demand for flexible workers and in the coming years, we see them leading the chart. The workers under this Economy are those part-time workers or freelancers with multiple talents who will be working under one roof. These are Digital Nomads who will be working as per their wish and from any part of the globe. They will be constantly traveling and continue to work from anywhere. This is also bringing a new phenomenon of Holiday Employment. 

The decline of full-time jobs:

The steady decline of full-time jobs as a percentage of the labor market due to unregulated capitalism and the growth of digital automation. In the past, part-time and seasonal hires were meant to cover the occasional manufacturing spikes or holiday retail season. You can see this trend most aggressively applied to retail and restaurants, where part-time staff are assigned tentative shifts and notified to come in, sometimes with less than an hour’s notice, but given time, higher-skilled, white-collar jobs are now well accepted. 

 Impact of Flexible Economy:

The rising trend of the flexible economy is already creating ripples in the economies but the flexible economy is a boon for companies looking to shave off expenses. Shedding excess full-time workers allows companies to reduce their benefit, healthcare & retirement costs. These cost reduction will be invested somewhere and part-time workers will be the biggest beneficiaries. Employers will be saving costs on various other support expenses like On Job training, basic Infrastructure facilities.

 Part-time jobs don't have to be outside of the home. There are plenty of opportunities for college students, professionals. Moms can also make money from home. Some of the types of work-from-home opportunities include freelancing, secret shopper jobs, human resource and home party hostess positions apart from digital economy jobs like Digital Marketing, Content Writing, Web Development, Web Designing, and many other online support jobs.

 There will be a huge economic shift in the way people are working after the Covid19 crises. Both workers and employers are now accepting this trend and this change in this is going to make a radical shift to the working timings. This is going to lead to further globalization of resourcing as the imbalance and scarcity of resources will also be addressed.

The growth in the flexible economy won’t just impact workers, it will also impact the economy as a whole. Fewer people working in full-time jobs means fewer people:

• Benefiting from employer-aided pension/retirement plans.
• Contributing to the unemployment insurance system, making it harder for the government to support workers in times of need.
• Benefiting from continuous on-the-job training and experience that makes them better skilled workers.
• Spending and economic activity.

Basically, the more people working less than full-time hours, the more expensive and less competitive the overall economy becomes. 

Advantages of Flexible Economy:

Flexible working is boon for many workers as it brings many benefits which lead to better time management and more family time. It is also a boon for some employers, who may have some limitations to hire full-time employees or may have limited period need of resources.

• Flexibility to work as per your family's schedule than being locked into a 40-hour workweek.
• Moms can find better part-time jobs that work around their family preferences.
• It's easier to pick up more working hours in case of need for more money.
• Workers can also take coaching that can use to enhance careers.
• Better flexibility with less stress
• Employers may have better liberty to hire resources
• Easier process for employers in times of cost-cutting measures
• More choice for the employer to hire from the local or global resource pool

Disadvantages of Flexible Economy

As much as the benefits of Flexible working, it does come with some important limitations. Which needs to take those into account from the very beginning and ensure they don’t bring a work-at-home career to an early end. The most important factor in successfully flexible working is setting a priority between work and personal time.

There are a few disadvantages of flexible working

• Flexible jobs generally don't come with all the benefits, such as health insurance or paid time off for sick days or vacation leaves.
• flexible jobs may require a minimum number of hours, even up to 30 per week, which might conflict with the family schedule.

·        The potential for flexibility may jeopardize personal life by allowing work into your personal life to invade your professional time.

• Some part-time jobs require you to work on weekends.
• Your hours may not be consistent each week, so the earnings.
• Busy times of the year may require working additional hours.

  In nutshell, Flexible economy or Part-Time working is going the change the future of work timings. Part-Time employment is going to grow and the Corona crises have acted as a catalyst to this flexible and remote economy. It will be the new normal which may bring some benefits as well as some consequences.