It’s feast or famine, but the flexibility of the feast is what can be so tasty, especially when we’re hands on in the creating. Sometimes that’s out of necessity, sometimes it’s out of want, and sometimes it’s the very essence of survival to keep food on the table.
And by 2020, there could be 70 million of us. Welcome to the Freelance Nation.
Companies have been operating leaner then ever the past few years because of the economic apocalypse, shedding millions of jobs of all shapes and sizes, many of which will never see the light of day again. For many professionals this has presented a dire circumstance — adapt or perish. Sure, in this post-apocalyptic world where pockets of economic prosperity glow warm and lush, there are more of those today who’ve made the leap and found sound employment. The current U.S. unemployment rate is 8.3 percent, and the even greener world is the one where military veterans are getting work with an unemployment rate of 7.6 percent, down from a high of over 12 percent (even higher for both populations when you include part-time workers and those who had given up looking for work).
Silicon Valley is one prime example where tech is crazy hot and job growth is strong. But even for many tech professionals, there has been a struggle to stay relevant, to stay employable, to keep food on the table. This has accelerated the freelance movement where those who have the stomach (because we’re hungry) have taken over their career management and marketed themselves as lean businesses for hire. Freelancers are lean businesses incarnate.
More companies and freelancers alike want to dial the professional services and tech work up — then dial the work down — then dial the work up — then dial the work down — on-demand leanness, baby. That’s how the world of work works today and tomorrow. But it also means those of us who’ve become lean businesses incarnate are experiencing a renaissance of innovation. More freelancers and solopreneurs means more ideas that can make a better business biscuit, some truly innovative and tasty. That’s really what it’s all about: better business biscuits, hot from the oven and slathered in butter and honey.
We gotta eat, you know.
Check out the tasty selection, below, of yesterday’s smart, insightful tweets. We look forward to seeing you for another “#TChat, the World of Work” next week.
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