Over the last 50 years, the world of work, particularly in the Western world, has changed dramatically. In the early 1970s, the UK still had a robust and sizeable primary working sector. Coal was still king, and capturing it from the mountains of Wales and North England created tremendous employment. Manufacturing cars and consumable goods in the Midlands was the mainstay of people’s working lives. However, in the background, the world of work was about to undergo a seismic change. The tertiary and quaternary employment sectors were about to come to the fore. How people were employed, and the skills needed to gain employment would also shift considerably.
Outside of these economic changes, people were also looking to work in new ways. The days of simply working en masse in one location began to be questioned. As technological advancements started to improve, the development of information technology and the use of social media meant that it was possibly time to rethink how we worked and where. COVID was the final deciding factor for many businesses with large office spaces. The sudden need to work from home to keep business and the economy alive meant that laptops and internet connections became new tools for working. The keyword for work became flexible for the current working generations. Now, with the rising gig economy, are working arrangements going to change even more, especially if they are to be combined with flexible payments?
For most of us, the answer is probably “not yet”, but it’s worth considering the topic of flexible payment arrangements and how they may affect us as employers in the future…
To the modern employee, financial gain is not the only concern when job hunting. It is still an essential consideration, but flexibility has become a critical factor in working time, hours, and location and home working is now a priority for many. At the very least, modern employees like the option of hybrid work, combining home and office work over the week.
For us as ethical recruiters, it has become clear that the younger generation has a degree of flexibility in mind when they are looking for work. The good news for employers is that this can represent a significant saving as the need for physical office space is massively reduced.
Another side of this mobile working ethic is the growing gig economy and the side hustle. Short-term contracts that allow someone to jump from job to job represent a perfect arrangement for many employers. Short-term and zero-hour contracts enable hires that last for a specific period with services then relinquished when the work is done. This means an employee must be flexible and mobile in their approach. Freelance roles, contractor positions (such as those already in place in the construction and decorating industries) and temporary ones are now becoming a reality. The overriding feature of this work is the way digital platforms are used to facilitate it.
So, what is the Gig economy? It covers a huge range of options and working practices. From the employees’ point of view, it means a greater degree of flexibility in when, where, and how they work. It also means they can define how much they work. From the view of ethical recruiters, such as Core3, this means greater opportunities, but the system is not without its vocal and well-respected critics.
The most radical change that the gig economy brings is a seismic shift of responsibilities in the world of work. This means employers no longer have a duty of care or provision for the employee. For example, the employee can calculate their own tax affairs and national insurance. It also means that the employee has to research a pension and provide insurance for their work. For the employer, the gig economy brings significant savings. Still, it also means that redundancy payments may become a thing of the past along with unfair dismissal, as no one will be able to stay in a role long enough to accrue the right to either. Essentially, everyone will become self-employed.
The apparent issue with this sudden flexibility is that it also brings high levels of uncertainty. How can the workforce ever plan to pay their bills? When applying for a mortgage or car finance, for example, how can they prove their income? Loans and even regular bills will be more complex to maintain if there isn’t a steady stream of revenue coming into the home. As our economy is based around consumer spending, if this becomes unstable, the broader implications for the growth and development of the country’s business and industry could be severely impacted.
For ethical recruiters, there are many positives to be seen in developing flexible working practices. Employees who are allowed to set their hours, staying within the business’s needs in a mutually beneficial arrangement to both parties, can increase productivity and general worker well-being. This is something that both sides of the working world need to take into account. However, there is an overriding concern in some quarters that if the working patterns on offer cannot be found to be stable and provide a regular income, the well-being gains will be entirely offset by the anxiety and uncertainty they will create.
As ethical recruiters in the finance industry, we have yet to hear of candidates requesting flexible payment arrangements, although we have seen a rise in the number of interim jobs. Perhaps the perception that a stable income is the result of having one, permanent job has changed. After all, having more than one job or taking on roles in response to the ebb and flow of the financial year can still amount to a stable income over the year as a whole.
For us, it’s always about putting the right people in the right place at the right time and we’ll keep on doing that as we adapt and respond to our client’s and candidate’s needs.
