May 22, 2020 Gig Economy Opportunities – Core Webinar Recap

Topcoder VP Clinton Bonner recently hosted a webinar on Gig Economy Opportunities to the Core community. Core is a Canadian association whose mission is to help organizations succeed at managing diverse service arrangements. Clinton’s presentation focused on how the COVID disruption is highlighting the strengths of the gig economy, pushing more organizations to innovate their workforce arrangements, and inspiring new tools to push the gig economy forward even after the current crisis fades. Ideally, the future of work will include more resilient enterprises whose leaders are willing to innovate and blend traditional and on-demand workers.

Enjoy a recording of the webinar below. Thanks to Core for putting this together.

Clinton emphasizes the fact that the gig economy (which goes by many names, including the “crowd economy” or “talent marketplace”) was gaining traction well before the COVID pandemic required more people to work from home. 34 percent of workers in the US were already using more than one income source or making a living through gig work.

For organizations, gig talent offers the benefits of speed, scale, and resiliency—though it takes an investment in planning and experimentation to make it work. Enterprises need to trust their on-demand workforce, be willing to trial new arrangements and adjust as needed, use freelancers in management positions, and ensure that gig workers are seen as full team members. Clinton offers several case studies of enterprises that have successfully scaled their management of on-demand talent, including big names like Ikea and TurboTax, and he highlights some of Topcoder’s effective partnerships.

Clinton believes that a blended workforce will become the norm as we move forward, including teams that combine full-time employees with gig talent, new tools to improve collaboration, and widespread experimentation with gig talent at different scales. Both workers and employers will desire more flexibility in work arrangements, and Clinton encourages organizations to take the positive changes that the pandemic has forced on them and make them permanent.

Learn more about Core’s mission and offerings here.

Start your own project with on-demand talent here.