Africa-Press – Eswatini. At the close of the 20th century, there was much anticipation of the 21st century as there was an understanding that the internet would greatly influence and dramatically change the norms of doing business all over the world.
Twenty years into the century, a lot of what was anticipated has come to pass. We are doing business with gadgets in whatever space we desire without needing to physically be there. The information, communication and technology (ICT) space continues to shape our way of life, and so too our way of doing business.
The Covid-19 pandemic that hit the globe in 2020 was like fuel to fire as it pushed industries that were slow in adopting to the ICT changing norms over the cliff. Many industries, including the education sector, have aligned to the new ways of the 21st century – which is business online.
It is of essence to note that the continued shifts in ICT is changing so many things, which includes how industries procure talent in the what we now call the ‘gig economy’.
In the previous century, the nature of employment was permanent and that was because organisations could look into the horizon and know which cards to play so to continue to be profitable and sustainable in the long run. However, the 21st century is facing a rapid and volatile environment in all industries and that includes institutions that were perceived to be solid like governments.
The gig economy The ‘gig economy’ is based on flexible, temporary, or freelance jobs, often involving connecting with clients or customers through an online platform. The gig economy benefits workers, businesses and consumers by making work more adaptable to the needs of the moment and the demand for flexible lifestyles.
The 21st century is seeing more and more industries use the gig economy for the procurement of talent. The gig economy refers to workers who depend on freelance deals and rarity jobs, contrasting a fixed salary arrangement with a single company.
This method of working is used by many musicians and artists as well as mechanics, contractors, taxi drivers, and many more. Despite being comparatively small, the gig economy is an ever-growing way of making money and finding specialised services that would be otherwise be difficult and expensive to procure.
The gig economy is gradually becoming a source of revenue for more people around the world with more companies utilising this model as their chief functioning approach.
Covid-19 has seen more industries appreciate the gig economy and turning to procure – not just mundane services, but also highly specialised services. The nature of the economy is that some gigs may well be as short as a five-minute survey, while others could be a month or year-long scheme. In any case, workers who receive their income through the gig economy need to have a subsequent project once they are done with the existing one.
Since businesses have a new-built facility of being able to promptly contract with experts for individual projects with no overhead costs like office space, instructing and benefits, the gig economy is generally a very beneficial proposal for employers.
Nevertheless, for freelancing gig workers, it can be a fusion of pros and cons. Characteristics of the gig economy According to one source, it is “a labour market characterised by the prevalence of short-term contracts or freelance work, as opposed to permanent jobs”.
And – taking opposing partisan viewpoints – it is either a working environment that offers flexibility with regard to employment hours, or it is a form of exploitation with very little workplace protection.
Flexibility In the gig economy, instead of a regular wage, workers get paid for the ‘gigs’ they do, such as a food delivery or a car journey. Before Covid-19, jobs that were done in the gig economy primarily included couriers, ride-hailing drivers and video producers.
Supporters of the gig economy claim that people can benefit from flexible hours, with control over how much time they can work as being able to juggle other priorities in their lives. In addition, the flexible nature often offers benefits to employers, as they only pay when the work is available, and do not incur staff costs when the demand is not there.
The flipside of the coin is that workers in the gig economy are classed as independent contractors. This means that they have no protection against unfair dismissal, no right to redundancy payments and no right to receive the national minimum wage, paid holiday or sickness pay.
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