Co-Merge Workplace was recently pictured as “An example of a workplace where free agents can rent space and possibly collaborate” in an article by Chuck Flacks, Research Director for the San Diego Workforce Partnership
In these dark economic times, with persistent unemployment, it’s easy to become very discouraged about our future. What will people do in the neweconomy? How will the long-term unemployed find work? If my old job doesn’t exist, what am I supposed to do now? One answer, perhaps, is that the nature of work itself has changed from a “job” to a meaningful activity that is self-affirming. Millions across the country have found satisfaction and meaning in escape from the employer into “free agency.”
Long before there was a Great Recession, there was interest in a “Free Agent Nation.” As early as 1997, Fast Company ran an article by the father of the term, Daniel Pink, who estimated that 16% of workers were independent contractors, self-employed or temporary employees. His numbers went up significantly in 2001, when he published his book by the same title; he estimated that 30% of the workforce fell into this category.
In San Diego, 30% of the workforce would be approximately 428,100 people. This number seems very high, but thousands of people run businesses out of their homes, thousands work as temporary employees – full time and part time, and thousands work as consultants, living from project to project.
Why does this matter? First, let’s look at the economy. Gone are the days of the 30+ years with the same company, a comfortable pension for retirement, and the satisfaction that you are taken care of by your employer. Gone are the days when you could count on a union to represent the interests of all workers within an industry. Companies today are increasingly treating their workers as inputs rather than investments, doing the minimum required by law to protect, insure, and maintain the value of their people. The massive political push against increases in employer-financed health insurance, the unsustainable cost of pensions for many government employees for the baby-boom generation, the downsizing of millions of people, and the stagnation in real wages all point to a reinvention of work.
At the same time, people are working harder, longer hours, weekends, and often more than one job. The demands of the workplace require a constant upgrading of one’s knowledge, skills and abilities to maintain one’s competitiveness in the global workplace. And, one of our biggest competitors is automation. More and more tasks from grocery check out and parking lot attendants, to manufacturing and surgery are being performed by machines that don’t require breaks, insurance or retirement accounts. Work, as we know it, is being reinvented for us.
Conventional jobs are not going away. There are still huge companies employing hundreds of thousands. However, it is the middle-sized companies, and the middle management who used to work for them, that are vanishing. And, even the very large companies hire armies of temporary workers, consultants and contractors to get their work done more efficiently and less expensively.
An example of a workplace where free agents can rent space and possibly collaborate.Pink describes a new social contract. In the past, we put aside a sense of self for the greater good of the corporation, which rewarded us for our loyalty and effort. The new social contract puts workers in the driver’s seat. We have talent that is of some value to a business. We negotiate with that business to
hire us for our talents, but we don’t have to give up ourselves. We become our own companies – responsible for creating a market for our skills. His point is that we are free to decide how we enter the marketplace for labor:
Professionals with families, for instance, might move through four stages: 1) Early Intensity – a period of long hours, perhaps in a conventional job or a start-up company; 2) Parental Pullback – part-time, more limited hours, or free agency when children arrive; 3) Empty Nest Energy – after the kids are gone, a more intense pursuit of the same, or perhaps different, occupation; and, 4) E-tirement- working as part-time, some time and anytime free agents – using the Internet as a platform for finding and executing work.
This new social and economic reality is already upon us. We all need to be developing our own business plans for our work. How will we use our passions
and skills in a meaningful way? What is this worth in the market? How can we finance our business or project? When, where and how will we execute our work? These are very different questions from “How can I tailor my resume to get the job?” The answer for people currently unemployed is that they need to start thinking very differently about what work means to them, and how they can find people who will pay for what they can offer.
For the people who are poorly educated, who have limited access to resources, or who have made bad choices, the future may be somewhat bleaker. However, we may see a resurgence of an age-old practice – apprenticeship. Every summer, the Workforce Partnership places hundreds of young people in jobs working for some of the region’s most innovative emerging industries. These apprenticeship opportunities have fueled interest in science and engineering, propelling these youth into the skills required in the new economy. As our workforce matures, many professionals may feel the call to work with young people, giving support to the next generation of “free agents.”
Every story has multiple sides. We could view this current economy as a tragedy for our way of life. Or, we can recognize the opportunities emerging from historic change. By considering ourselves as the “companies” of the future, we can take the reins of our own lives and begin to create meaning, gather new skills, develop new approaches, launch new strategies, and execute meaningful work in the 21st century in new and world-changing ways.
