The demographics of the US workforce have been evolving for years, accelerated by technological advances, generational shifts, and economic necessities. Mathiason explained that the average US worker today is 42 years old, and has held 10.2 jobs in his lifetime. In many ways, this worker has already been contingent, shifting jobs and company loyalties as business requirements changed and work assignments did not suit his strengths and interests. The growing economy made these job transitions easier, and the Internet brought new career opportunities to the worker’s attention with the click of a mouse. Turnover went up, but this suited the business needs of many companies. Businesses found that during times of dramatic and accelerated change, the need to maintain a flexible workforce is not just a key competitive advantage, but a requirement for survival. As evidence, look at Microsoft, the company known for its’ software, and its historic settlement of a worker misclassification claim to the tune of $98 million. Its’ workforce today breaks down into 96,000 regular employees, and 88,000 contingent workers. Microsoft, with a legitimate reason to fear an aggressive foray into the world of contingent workers, has not only embraced the concept, it has become a leader in the movement.
In place of the traditional, hierarchical business model is a more fluid type of organization, with core personnel and ever-changing pieces to meet fast-changing market demands. The gathering of specific skill sets for the completion of a finite, well-defined task is not new, Mathiason said. Construction projects are accomplished in this manner. Movies are made in this manner. The project is conceived; the experts are sourced; tasks are assigned; accountabilities are established; project is implemented; assignment completed, and the team members go their separate ways in search of the next job. The 21st century workforce will operate in a similar fashion. Hard to imagine? Sound too “futuristic”? Last month, Inc. magazine published the entire monthly edition of the publication without ANY of the contributors (writers, editors, advertising executives, printers, photographers, etc.) ever setting foot in the office together. The workplace of tomorrow is here today at Inc. magazine.
Up until now, two major obstacles have stood in the way of an accelerated transition to a majority workforce of contingent, project based workers. According to Mathiason, these are:
Health Insurance: As long as health insurance remains tied to regular full-time employment, worker mobility will be restricted. With the passage of the recent health care reform package, this dynamic might be changing. Mathiason predicts that for many companies, paying a penalty instead of offering an employer health care benefit will be more cost-effective, thereby driving more Americans into the health insurance exchanges, scheduled to be in place in 2014. If this proves to be the case, this could announce the death knell for employer sponsored health insurance programs, thus removing one significant barrier to the expansion of the contingent workforce.
Need for Community: At our core, we are social beings. Employees crave meaningful work, but also a sense of connectedness to others. We make friends at work, share stories around the proverbial water cooler, and participate in brainstorming meetings. Workers need to gather together from time to time not only to get things done, but to satisfy their social needs. The explosion of social media and communication tools appear to have solved this problem. Now, we can tweet, Skype, collaborate and “friend” one another, all while never leaving our virtual home office or the local coffee house. If today’s trends hold, by 2020, 44% of US workers will be distance workers, having no regular face-to-face contact with their co-workers. The itch for community bonding seems to have been scratched by Facebooking.
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