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What is The Gig Economy?

by Rachel Walker-Cole

gig economy diagram

A couple of weeks ago I was speaking with a CEO about the importance of flexibility in the workplace and happened to mention the impact of the gig economy. He stopped me and asked, “did you just say gig?”. Never heard of the gig economy, not a problem. Are you familiar with Uber and Airtasker?

I’m assuming most of you are familiar with Uber and similar business models. Well that’s what the gig economy is all about but so much more.

You may be wondering how this is going to affect my business. Well there’s a growing trend internationally where businesses are not only built up of permanent and casual employees, but also of contractors, temps and outsourced solutions utilising the gig economy. In Australia, PWC found that 46% of HR professionals expect that at least 20% of their workforce will be made up of contractors and temporary workers by 2022. 

There are times when a business may have an on flow of work, a short term project or maybe someone has left the business. That’s when its useful to tap into the gig economy, to hire someone on a short-term basis to fill a need within your business. The gig economy can be utilised for a variety of roles, whether its junior admin roles, all the way up to CFOs. It’s a great way to bring in skills, experiences and IP if the business is lacking in a particular area.

How can TSHR help your business with the Gig Economy?

  • Assist with sourcing skills contractors for temporary assignments.
  • Advice on employment/contract classifications to ensure freelance workforce and the organisation are legally protected.
  • Onboarding and ongoing communication with freelance/contract staff to ensure engagement and effective job role contribution.
  • Advice on protection of company data and intellectual property when freelance workforce also engage with other employment providers.
  • Assist in developing culture that embraces gig culture where needed.