The Upsurge in Uncertain Work
The Upsurge in Uncertain Work
By Robert Reich - SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2015
As Labor Day looms, more Americans than ever dont know how much theyll be earning next week or even tomorrow.
This varied group includes independent contractors, temporary workers, the self-employed, part-timers, freelancers, and free agents. Most file 1099s rather than W2s, for tax purposes.
On demand and on call in the share economy, the gig economy, or, more prosaically, the irregular economy the result is the same: no predictable earnings or hours.
Its the biggest change in the American workforce in over a century, and its happening at lightening speed.
Its estimated that in five years over 40 percent of the American labor force will have uncertain work; in a decade, most of us.
Increasingly, businesses need only a relatively small pool of talent anchored in the enterprise innovators and strategists responsible for the firms unique competitive strength.
Everyone else is becoming fungible, sought only for their reliability and low cost....
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