Another one of those opinion pieces highlighting the latest work trend, which everyone is so getting fond of ... flexible work.
Only problem with on-demand, freelance work is the low pay & the exploitation of the worker. Yes, it frees an individual from a strict 9-5 schedule & perhaps, even long commutes, but then that individual is tied to a computer for long times, because each work is paying low enough that individual has to string together a series of enough jobs to make it worth his/her time.
Companies are of course loving this on-demand work trend because they can offload all the "menial" / insignificant / time-consuming work on to the freelancer, while reducing their number of employees. Those reductions in manpower means a huge reduction in labour costs. Those freelancers, on the other hand, are responsible for their own health insurance, saving up on pension, & of course, any vacations mean no earning power during those times (so, in effect, unpaid vacations).
Although, the author ends the piece with a great advice that devaluing the work what people do makes the whole society lose its humanity & values, & make the humans nothing more than being treated like mere machines, the end result will still be exploitation of the average human. Because, after all, nobody gets rich by paying more money, & everyone dreams to be rich. So, a few will indeed get rich, at the expense of turning millions into poor souls.
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Work how you want, when you want & for whom you want.
Sounds like employment paradise – & the rise of the on-demand work force, seems to suggest that this vision can be turned into reality.
...
While Uber is a prime example of an on-demand work force – where workers are matched with employers for the duration of a project – it’s just the tip of the iceberg when discussing the benefits & perils of such a labour market. We are entering an era in which will see the Uberfication of everything, & while the sharing economy brings tremendous value to cost-conscious companies & can provide employees flexibility & extra cash, it comes with inherent risks that ethical companies will need to manage.
A few months ago, a New York Magazine piece detailed how several house cleaners provided by San Francisco startup Homejoy were homeless themselves, despite the fact that the company raised $40-million in venture capital.
These stories will surface closer to home, too. In Ontario, 41% of work is now conducted outside of the traditional scenario, where an employee works full time for a single employer, according to a recent survey. Those involved in such precarious employment – where workers patch together several part-time positions – are typically paid lower wages & have few opportunities for growth, according to a recent OECD report that observed that non-standard work is rarely a stepping stone to a better job.
So, who are these new on-demand workers who source roles from mobile technology platforms, & why do they do it? According to a recent US survey, they are predominantly white, male & between the ages of 18 & 34. They are educated, with almost 30% possessing a college degree. Their motives primarily are making money & controlling their schedule but their inability to make enough remains their most pressing issue, according to a Rutgers study.
The concept of flexibility in these roles is also misguided, according to Kristy Milland, who spent more than 9 years as a Toronto-based on-demand worker for Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, a platform that crowdsources human labour for tasks that computers can’t do as well.
Ms. Milland, who wrote articles & product descriptions, transcribed audio & video files, handled translations, graphic design, Web design, market research, database creation, programming, & other projects, said that work opportunities are posted sporadically & pay below an acceptable rate. Full-time “Turkers,” explained Ms. Milland, are chained to their computers at all times of the day just to be able to make enough to get by, & often accept lower compensation to pay their bills.
Ms. Milland made “Turking” her primary job in 2010 when her husband lost his full-time role at a Fortune 500 company. She earned about $50,000 a year, sometimes working 17 hours at a stretch, seven days a week, & taking full weeks off when she generated enough income. She never worked for less than $20 an hour & often took weekends off but usually spent the rest of the day at her computer in case work appeared.
While she lauds the benefits of working when you want, the risk for exploitation quickly surfaces. The company assigning the project can reject your work, forcing you to go without pay – & with no recourse. Amazon can also suspend you without reason & there is no way to appeal, she said. You cannot move up the platform or create lasting relationships with those requesting the work, to open the door to better opportunities.
“Generally, it’s a stagnant job where your income ebbs & flows based on what work happens to have been posted,” Ms. Milland said.
“We are sold as ‘artificial’ artificial intelligence, not live humans with skills & intelligence, & that hurts our chance of ever being respected as a talented, high-quality work force deserving of respect,” she added.
Until now, new & disruptive companies have fuelled the sharing economy but traditional companies will start to join, said Alexander Shashou, president & co-founder of Alice, a New York-based technology platform that enables services-on-demand for the hospitality industry.
...
While there may be no way to put this on-demand work force genie back in its bottle, as the practice becomes more popular & ingrained, the workers’ experience needs to be taken into account. As an entrepreneur, I’ve benefited from working with contractors I’ve found on Upwork, paying industry standard wages & often speaking on the phone or even in person.
Increasingly devaluing work done by humans helps some companies in the short term, but none of us in the long term, & without taking precautions, we run the risk of racing to the bottom.
Leah Eichler is founder & CEO of r/ally, a machine-learning, human capital search engine for enterprises. Twitter: @LeahEichler
Only problem with on-demand, freelance work is the low pay & the exploitation of the worker. Yes, it frees an individual from a strict 9-5 schedule & perhaps, even long commutes, but then that individual is tied to a computer for long times, because each work is paying low enough that individual has to string together a series of enough jobs to make it worth his/her time.
Companies are of course loving this on-demand work trend because they can offload all the "menial" / insignificant / time-consuming work on to the freelancer, while reducing their number of employees. Those reductions in manpower means a huge reduction in labour costs. Those freelancers, on the other hand, are responsible for their own health insurance, saving up on pension, & of course, any vacations mean no earning power during those times (so, in effect, unpaid vacations).
Although, the author ends the piece with a great advice that devaluing the work what people do makes the whole society lose its humanity & values, & make the humans nothing more than being treated like mere machines, the end result will still be exploitation of the average human. Because, after all, nobody gets rich by paying more money, & everyone dreams to be rich. So, a few will indeed get rich, at the expense of turning millions into poor souls.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Work how you want, when you want & for whom you want.
Sounds like employment paradise – & the rise of the on-demand work force, seems to suggest that this vision can be turned into reality.
...
While Uber is a prime example of an on-demand work force – where workers are matched with employers for the duration of a project – it’s just the tip of the iceberg when discussing the benefits & perils of such a labour market. We are entering an era in which will see the Uberfication of everything, & while the sharing economy brings tremendous value to cost-conscious companies & can provide employees flexibility & extra cash, it comes with inherent risks that ethical companies will need to manage.
A few months ago, a New York Magazine piece detailed how several house cleaners provided by San Francisco startup Homejoy were homeless themselves, despite the fact that the company raised $40-million in venture capital.
These stories will surface closer to home, too. In Ontario, 41% of work is now conducted outside of the traditional scenario, where an employee works full time for a single employer, according to a recent survey. Those involved in such precarious employment – where workers patch together several part-time positions – are typically paid lower wages & have few opportunities for growth, according to a recent OECD report that observed that non-standard work is rarely a stepping stone to a better job.
So, who are these new on-demand workers who source roles from mobile technology platforms, & why do they do it? According to a recent US survey, they are predominantly white, male & between the ages of 18 & 34. They are educated, with almost 30% possessing a college degree. Their motives primarily are making money & controlling their schedule but their inability to make enough remains their most pressing issue, according to a Rutgers study.
The concept of flexibility in these roles is also misguided, according to Kristy Milland, who spent more than 9 years as a Toronto-based on-demand worker for Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, a platform that crowdsources human labour for tasks that computers can’t do as well.
Ms. Milland, who wrote articles & product descriptions, transcribed audio & video files, handled translations, graphic design, Web design, market research, database creation, programming, & other projects, said that work opportunities are posted sporadically & pay below an acceptable rate. Full-time “Turkers,” explained Ms. Milland, are chained to their computers at all times of the day just to be able to make enough to get by, & often accept lower compensation to pay their bills.
Ms. Milland made “Turking” her primary job in 2010 when her husband lost his full-time role at a Fortune 500 company. She earned about $50,000 a year, sometimes working 17 hours at a stretch, seven days a week, & taking full weeks off when she generated enough income. She never worked for less than $20 an hour & often took weekends off but usually spent the rest of the day at her computer in case work appeared.
While she lauds the benefits of working when you want, the risk for exploitation quickly surfaces. The company assigning the project can reject your work, forcing you to go without pay – & with no recourse. Amazon can also suspend you without reason & there is no way to appeal, she said. You cannot move up the platform or create lasting relationships with those requesting the work, to open the door to better opportunities.
“Generally, it’s a stagnant job where your income ebbs & flows based on what work happens to have been posted,” Ms. Milland said.
“We are sold as ‘artificial’ artificial intelligence, not live humans with skills & intelligence, & that hurts our chance of ever being respected as a talented, high-quality work force deserving of respect,” she added.
Until now, new & disruptive companies have fuelled the sharing economy but traditional companies will start to join, said Alexander Shashou, president & co-founder of Alice, a New York-based technology platform that enables services-on-demand for the hospitality industry.
...
While there may be no way to put this on-demand work force genie back in its bottle, as the practice becomes more popular & ingrained, the workers’ experience needs to be taken into account. As an entrepreneur, I’ve benefited from working with contractors I’ve found on Upwork, paying industry standard wages & often speaking on the phone or even in person.
Increasingly devaluing work done by humans helps some companies in the short term, but none of us in the long term, & without taking precautions, we run the risk of racing to the bottom.
Leah Eichler is founder & CEO of r/ally, a machine-learning, human capital search engine for enterprises. Twitter: @LeahEichler
