The Freelance Surge Is the Industrial Revolution of Our Time
3rd September 2011
It’s been called the Gig Economy, Freelance Nation, the Rise of the Creative Class, and the e-conomy, with the “e” standing for electronic, entrepreneurial, or perhaps eclectic. Everywhere we look, we can see the U.S. workforce undergoing a massive change. No longer do we work at the same company for 25 years, waiting for the gold watch, expecting the benefits and security that come with full-time employment. We’re no longer simply lawyers, or photographers, or writers. Instead, we’re part-time lawyers-cum- amateur photographers who write on the side.
Today, careers consist of piecing together various types of work, juggling multiple clients, learning to be marketing and accounting experts, and creating offices in bedrooms/coffee shops/coworking spaces. Independent workers abound. We call them freelancers, contractors, sole proprietors, consultants, temps, and the self-employed.
Perhaps the reason there are no jobs being created is that the very idea of ‘job’ is outdated.
September 4th, 2011 at 09:13
The concept of “job”, in the sense of working for a given company that valued its people, disappeared about the same time that “Personnel” departments transmogrified into “Human Resources” departments. People make a living by part-time patchwork because employers now consider workers to be anonymous cogs to be switched in or out of the machine at whim.
I’ve worked for many a company that expected me to “take one for the team” every now and then, but I have yet to work for a “team” that was willing to take one for me, if needed.