Which alternative models of the current value of work distribution and redistribution can you imagine ? On of them could called "The Asset Guild".

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KEY ACTORS
--> the guilds that replace unions, recruitment agencies
and insurers.
--> the social networks that not only facilitate exchange
within a guild, but also serve to support the autonomy
and mobility of each member.
--> the State, which maintains equality among the guilds
and acts as their regulator.
THE ROLE PLAYED BY DIGITAL
TECHNOLOGIES
--> Online social media platforms are at the heart
of guild development.
--> Digital tech promotes multi-modal pluri-activity,
and contributes to the dissociation of human capital
development from employment.
--> It facilitates access to continuing education
and peer training.
CONTROVERSIES
--> The return of the corporation? Guilds stifle
innovation, professional development
and personal initiative.
--> The end of solidarity? Guilds protect their own,
and care very little about the success of other guilds.
--> Unmanageable businesses? Management finds
it difficult to organise teams composed of different
guilds, or of members not necessarily recruited
by them directly.
SHIFT 1
Faced with the impossibility of landing
a job using conventional methods,
a group of "at-will" employees forms
a guild to share workloads and provide
mutual support. The initiative rapidly
gives rise to the emergence of similar
organisations.
PHASE 1
Guilds are attacked by the organi­
zations they destabilize: employment
service providers, temporary employ-
ment agencies, training organisations,
social and mutual insurers...
The corporatist, mafia-style practices
of certain guilds are singled out.
PHASE 2
Professional corporations
and ­local guilds meet to define
working rules and best practices.
Guilds model their practices
after collaborative consumption
networks and social network
­operators, in order to profes­
sionalise their services.
BURGEONING
(OFFICIAL)
RECOGNITION
A region entrusts its
local guild with the task
of retraining employees
from an industrial area in
crisis. The guild assumes
a more professional
character, and directly
competes with local
unemployment offices
and some insurers.
An increasing number
of independent and
unemployed workers join
guilds. The more mature
among them wonder
about the need
to split along territorial
or ­professional lines.
DENOUEMENT
Guilds manage
to ­supplant unions,
­insurers and most
­employment services
(including public
ones).
The State ­recognizes
their importance, and
acts as their regulator,
in addition to ensuring
a minimum level of
solidarity among
them. It enforces guild
­compliance with a code
of conduct and their
use of service reposi­
tories, and compels
them to safeguard
their members’ right
to change guild (or
not join any of them).
However, it’s getting
harder and harder
to find work that
doesn’t come through
a guild...SHIFT 2
Graphic designers forced into unbridled
competition by the marketplace create
a corporatist community, with the
intention of defending community rights
against platforms and clients, develo-
ping solidarity among professionals and
enhancing the value of their offering.
TRANSITION SCENARIOS
THE ASSET GUILD
Work and employment manage-
ment are dissociated, and form two
separate, complimentary activities:
businesses become centres of purely
economic activity, while newly-
baptised “guilds” handle human
resources. Employee guilds are orga-
nised according to profession (some-
times internationally) or by territory
(especially the less qualified workers).
In addition to job placement, guilds
manage employee training, wages
and salaries, and social welfare. Even
though they must compete with
one another to land contracts, guilds
offer the distinct advantage of being
able to guarantee reasonable, stable
incomes, a safety net in case of hard
times, a framework for ongoing
professional development, and even a
sense of community.
The State acts as guild regulator and
re-insurer. It maintains equality (pro-
bably with some difficulty) between
the richer guilds and others, and en-
sures that no guild abuses its power
over companies (talent blackmail) or
individuals (racketeering).
Guild selection, internal develop-
ment and preserving a certain level
of autonomy from the guild become
important issues impacting the pro-
fessional development of every guild
member; social networking plays an
invaluable role in this regard.
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