Employee Welfare in a blended workforce

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From a human resource management perspective, a blended workforce refers to a combined variety of employees subjected to different contracts that include permanent full-time employment, part-time, contract jobs, and temporary ones. The “term Gig Economy” defines independent and freelance works that are either technologically or momentary influenced. Examples of Gig Economy include working on a freelance basis from a remote location as an independent recruiter, Uber driver, or collecting money from AirBnB spaces.

One characterization of the gig economy is an environment where people buy and sell services through online brokering platforms such as the PeoplePerHour and TaskRabbit sites that are tech-enabled to market services for and by the freelancers. From this angle, one can characterize the workforce in this kind of business model like the hourglass. That is, people at the top can be highly skilled, with sought-after talents and who are well paid and very flexible with ideas. The ones on the bottom end are likely to be less skilled and temporary.

From the global fronts, it is increasingly becoming common for firms to hire workers on a temporary basis for short term projects. As this increasingly becomes popular, firms must now consider the impacts of the gig economy in the overall business and HR operations. As employees increasingly monetize their lives, the business skills and top talents are also up for grabs. Such websites as Toptal, PeoplePerHour, and Upwork convene temporary workers who are always more than willing to showcase their skills and talents on the market for short terms projects.

As the gig economy takes shape, more people get absorbed in and take up the same as side jobs. Notably, the common side jobs such as Uber driving and Lyft have taken shape at a rate worth paying attention to. More than 36 percent of the world’s employees are currently engaged in one or more side gig. For these workers, taking part in a side gig is a cushion against unemployment or losing a job in case they are in one. Besides, the employees on the gig economy use the same to supplement for their income which is sometimes so meager to sustain their demands. They stick to this arrangement as it informs the biggest opportunity to earn more money and have extra income. As a matter of fact, about 69 percent of employees are motivated by the primary call to earn more money through the gig economy.

Some of the biggest corporations around the world may soon realize that adopting a liberal policy governing the side jobs can result in an enhanced workforce due to the kind of talent the economy attracts. With the threats of losing out on the best workforce, employers have turned their focus on employee retention, thanks to the gig economy. With this approach, the gig economy has not only disrupted the workforce models but also redefined it. The gig economy has also necessitated the need to have a customized need of the employees as companies must now understand what works for them and what doesn’t.

References

Dokko, J., Mumford, M., & Schanzenbach, D. W. (2015). Workers and the online gig economy. The Hamilton Project.

Lobel, O. (2017). The gig economy & the future of employment and labor law. USFL Rev., 51, 51.

Noe, R. A., Hollenbeck, J. R., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. M. (2017). Human resource management: Gaining a competitive advantage. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.