Uber's Is Watching You, Do You Need a College Degree Anymore?, Quiet Quitting Is About Bad Bosses, and More...

Approximately 60 million independent workers in the United States represent $1.5 trillion in U.S. GDP. 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 the future of work.

I believe that?every organization?in?every industry?needs a Gig Economy strategy. Not having one 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. We can see the U.S. workforce undergoing a massive structural change everywhere we look.

More Than 75% of U.S. Businesses Prefer to Hire Freelancers in Uncertain Economy ?-?As more companies announce?hiring freezes and layoffs , three-quarters are more likely to turn to freelancers and other contingent workers as a stopgap.?

Freelance Talent Market Research Round-Up with Forrester, Freelancer Club, and MBO Partners ?- This Center for the Transformation of Work meeting highlights informative research on the freelance talent marketplace with Forrester , @Freelancer Club, and MBO Partners .

How Newport County's blossoming gig economy was born from the Great Resignation ?- With unemployment lower than before the pandemic, many experts have pointed to a general shift in talent from specific industries to other industries. The "Great Reshuffle" is a contributing cause to the tight labor market impacting many sectors across the United States.

Uber enlists home security company ADT in an attempt to improve ride safety ?-?Uber's history is checkered with?a well-documented history ?of?labor exploitation ?alongside its?ongoing legal woes ?about passengers'?countless sexual assault reports . And although the company has made?commendable strides ?in repairing its ecosystem to provide customers with safer rides, "its actual response has been slow and inadequate, with horrific consequences,"?argues Adam Slater , founding partner of the law firm Slater Slater Schulman which is currently representing roughly 550 women in a class action lawsuit against the company.

Bringg, flexible labor platform WorkWhile launch The Driver Network ?-?Bringg is joining forces with WorkWhile to launch The Driver Network, a collection of gig economy drivers made available to businesses looking for last-mile delivery drivers daily. The companies announced the network on Wednesday during a "What's Next in the Last Mile" session at the Home Delivery World conference at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

The Creator Economy?

The Creator Economy is like the sharing and gig economies in 2012-2015 that ushered in an explosion of creativity driven by individuals, technology platforms, and hype. All are driven by the dream of making a living by doing what you love. At over $100B+, the creator economy is just getting started.

Will AI take over creative jobs? - A recent controversial discussion happened after that an AI artwork won a competition in fine art. How to leverage AI-generated art for your websites? And more Ai-related interesting news.

Snap Falls Victim to TikTok's Rapid Growth ?- Snap Inc. is having a rough week. The company said it fired 20% of its workers, canceled or scaled back several buzzy projects, lost its chief business officer to Netflix Inc., and reorganized the advertising sales department under a new executive.

Creative skills will be crucial to the future of work. They should take center stage at the jobs summit ?-?"Creativity" has been identified by the?World Economic Forum , the?International Monetary Fund , and global?business analysts ?as the key to our future economies. It was the number-one skillset demanded two years in a row by?the 20 million job ads on LinkedIn , which labeled it "the most important skill in the world ."

Creator Economy Grew by 119% in Last Two Years: Report ?- In a?study ?published this week,?Adobe ?revealed that creators make up 23% of people globally, meaning nearly one in four individuals contribute to art and creativity. Adobe's research defines a creator as an adult over 18 who either participates in creative activities, such as photography or NFT creation and posts and promotes their work online. They are also dedicated to creating content at least monthly to grow their social presence.

Gen Z is surprisingly absent from the millennial-dominated creator economy ?-?Gen Z's countless TikTok trends ?may make it seem like the generation is supercharging the creator economy. Still, it's the 40-year-old millennial leading the way.

The Changing Workplace

We see unprecedented numbers of companies implementing remote work programs. How we work has forever changed and requires new skills and leadership approaches.

4 Work-From-Home Mistakes That Cost Businesses Thousands of Dollars ?- If you've transitioned your team to working remotely in the past few months, chances are you've spent a fair amount of time trying to replicate the office experience at home perfectly—and that's a big mistake.

Quiet Quitting Is About Bad Bosses, Not Bad Employees ?- "Quiet quitting" is a new name for an old behavior. The authors, who have conducted 360-degree leadership assessments for decades, have regularly asked people to rate whether their "work environment is a place where people want to go the extra mile." Their data indicates that quiet quitting is usually less about an employee's willingness to work harder and more creatively and more about a manager's ability to build a relationship with their employees where they are not counting the minutes until quitting time.

Millennials have struggled to find well-paid jobs despite being the most-educated generation. It's because there are more college degrees but fewer jobs that require them .?- Millennials may be the?most educated , but a college degree does much less for them than for their parents and grandparents. That's according to a new working paper?published ?by the National Bureau of Economic Research, which found that the class of 2013 had worse financial outcomes than the class of 1996.

Wellness?

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

?Handling quiet quitting: how to recover from burnout ?-?Quiet quitting, the latest TikTok work trend, has sparked a lot of questions and conversations about work satisfaction and mental health. Here's the biggest question: is quiet quitting a symptom or a solution to burnout?

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PAUL ESTES, founder of?XpertLinkAI ?and the best-selling author of the best-selling book?Gig Mindset , 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 Talent Economy podcasts. Each week, Paul provides insights and perspective to over 100,000 readers of his weekly LinkedIn newsletter, and he frequently shares his insights as a keynote speaker and panelist.?