From 18th-century labor to TaskRabbit, the flexible workforce is evolving
By Shelly Strom, for Liveops
What does a traditional job look like? Many people would describe it as a full-time role with a single company. Yet, the FTE—full-time equivalent—employee/employer relationship is a fairly recent phenomenon. And it appears that the tide is turning from this full-time paradigm to one that pundits and analysts call the “gig economy.”
The transition from FTEs to gig workers
Much has been made in the last two years about the gig economy, what it means for workers, and whether it will erode the traditional FTE way working.
For roughly the last half-century, we’ve seen a transition away stable employment. The number of people who are self-employed in flexible roles is growing steadily. According to Fast Company, as of May 2015, 15.5 million people in the U.S. were self-employed—an increase of roughly 1 million since May 2014. By 2020, an estimated more than 40 percent of the American workforce, or 60 million people, will be independent workers—freelancers, contractors, and temporary employees.
So as the so-called traditional FTE model gives way to the economy, the prospect is good that, as long as gigging is super-charged by the internet, the gig economy will have an increasing impact on the way people all around the world work.
When gig work was a way of life
It turns out that the gigging so many people are talking about and taking part in is a way of life that’s not all that different from the way we lived prior to the industrial revolution.
“While it might seem that long-established ways of working are being disrupted, history shows us that the one-person, one-career model is a relatively recent phenomenon,” Tawny Paul, a British historian, wrote for Business Insider in July.
“Prior to industrialisation in the 19th century, most people worked multiple jobs to piece together a living. Looking to the past uncovers some of the challenges, benefits and consequences of a gig economy,” Paul said.
Paul cited a diary of Edmund Harrold to illustrate the point. “A resident of Manchester in the early 18th century, he was a barber by training and title. He rented a small shop, shaved customers’ heads, bought and sold hair, and crafted wigs. In the hours unfilled by this, he worked as a book dealer, and eventually as an auctioneer, selling various items in alehouses within Manchester and in outlying towns. He lent out money when he had it, earning 10% interest on his holdings.”
The internet propels the next wave of gig workers
At the turn of the last century, with the rise of the internet, people looking for gigs and those looking to hire flexible workers could connect, seamlessly and efficiently, like never before. Read more.