Drivers for Gig Economy and how freelancer platforms such as UpWork, Freelancer, and Toptal allow organisations to scale their workforce, be agile, and access high-quality talent at competitive cost.

1. Gig Economy:
Agile ‘Freelancer’ Talent
Dr Susan Entwisle
HPE Distinguished Technologist / Executive Director
@scentwisle

2. Gig Economy gives companies access
to global talent pool that can be
scaled, as need.

4. Average lifespan S&P 500 company decreased from 67 years
in 1920s to 15 today. By 2020, more than three-quarters of
S&P 500 will be companies you have never heard of yet.
Source: Professor Richard Foster,Yale University

5. $4,000 average cost to hire in US
68 days on average to hire in Australia
36%of employers can’t find talent when needed
$2.7 trillion impact to global GDP from use of more efficient
talent platforms - McKinsey
Time to hire has more than doubled over last 5 years
Source: LiveHire Investor Presentation

6. 46% of companies are sometimes or frequently
understaffed. Impacts customer experience.
Source: ShiftGigs

7. Command and control, hourly model has
not really changed in decades.

8. Only 24% of Australians are engaged with their job.
60% are not engaged and 16% are actively disengaged.
Actively disengaged workers account for more quality defects, safety
incidents, higher rates of absenteeism and lower retention rates.
Cost of absenteeism estimated at $7 billion each year.
Cost of presenteeism estimated at almost $26 billion.
Source: Gallup Study

9. CEO’s have rated talent management
as top 3 challenge for a long time.
Source: PA Consulting

10. By 2020, millennials will form 50% of the global
workforce.
Source: PwC

11. Average life expectancy heading to 100
Source: UK Telegraph

12. Diversity and inclusion improves performance
Increasing need to integrate work into and
across life

13. Our world is hyper connected, flat and untethered

14. Today’s workers want flexibility and choice
enabled by technology
72% millennials want to be their own boss
Source: Forbes 2015

15. Globalisation
+
Generational Shifts
+
Technology
Source: Shiftgigs

16. Gig economy provides agile talent needed to
thrive in ever increasing competitive marketplace
Significantly reduce time to hire - agility
Fill skills gaps – access talent needed
Challenge status quo thinking
Lower headcount – costs
Adjust to cyclical patterns – seasonality, market cycles
Achieve better outcomes – right engaged person, rewarded for
results
Fixed price – better cost and risk management
Increased diversity – minority groups overrepresented

17. How the Gig Economy Works
Customers
post Gigs
Individuals
find Gigs
Marketplace
for Gigs
transaction fee for both parties

18. Key Characteristics
ONLINE PLATFORM connects workers to customers
Work WHEN you want on tasks of INTEREST
SPECIFIC RATE is paid for tasks
PAYMENT is INTERMEDIATED by platform
Source: Gig Economy & Future Work, N. Maganha

20. Uber has not only taken market share from
taxi industry but also increased its size
2012:
Annual earnings in taxi
industry BEFORE Uber:
$120million
2014:
Uber’s annual earnings in the
city:
$500million
Source: Gig Economy & Future Work, N. Maganha
San Francisco, USA

21. Source: Freelancer Investor Presentation
CONSULTANTS
BRAND AMBASSADORS
TECHNOLOGISTS
HOUSEKEEPERS
RECEPTIONISTS
SERVERS
BARTENDERS
COOKS
PORTERS
CALL CENTER AGENTS
RETAIL WORKERS
WAREHOUSE PACKERS

23. Freelancer is booming
40%American workforce
will be freelancers
by 2020
1in3Millenials freelance
3/4British freelancers
see their role as
long-term
78%Freelancers
recommend it
Source: Gig Economy & Future Work, N. Maganha

24. Task to be performed

25. Crowdsource ideas

26. No one size fits all model
Source: Forbes
Exception
Strategic
Augmentation
Workforce
Strategy

28. Source: Toptal

30. For workers, is this a race to the bottom?
Wage degradation – increased global competition -
impact standard living.
Misclassified as contractor instead of employee – deprived of
protections and insurance guaranteed by law.
Lack of job security, increased competition and longer hours -
impact stress-levels / mental health.
Unregulated markets – regulators slow to respond – tax
avoidance.

32. susan.entwisle@hpe.com
@scentwisle