Five Ways to Adapt to the Growing Gig Economy

The term “gig economy” describes the rapid shift from traditional employment to contractual and freelance engagements. This provides a sense of independence, freedom and financial stability to workers everywhere. In turn, businesses are able to reduce the cost of benefits, respond quickly to fluctuating business demand and hire experts for short-term, necessary services.

Your business can adapt to the ever-growing gig economy in many ways. You may consider making your workplace more desirable for traditional candidates, in order to keep from shifting to contractors. Your team may also need to review how you find new candidates for these positions. In the IT industry, nTech Workforce can help provide a specific IT staffing solution that addresses your company’s changing needs and helps your team meet critical deadlines.

Here are five adaptation methods you should consider for your company.

Support a Strong Work-Life Balance

If you’re interested in keeping traditional employees, consider providing more opportunity for a strong work-life balance. For example, you might:

• Encourage employees to work from home one or two days each week
• Shift from a traditional five-day, eight-hour schedule to a four-day, ten-hour schedule
• Improve vacation and holiday benefits

All of these improvements in work-life balance can have a positive effect – increasing your bottom line through boosted productivity and employee engagement.

Encourage Collaboration

There are few, if any, downsides to allowing collaboration in the workplace. Teams often generate strong and clearer ideas, drive innovation, and keep your company competitive.

If you can afford to have employees working on constant teams, you’ll appreciate the results. If not, consider allowing your employees to hold team meetings once or twice a week. You’ll experience similar results and boosted morale.

Teams can be formed based on shared positions, expectations, or goals.

Focus on Workplace Culture

The concept is simple: If your employees enjoy coming to work, they’ll keep coming to work. If you choose to make your environment fun, friendly, and engaging, you’ll improve workplace culture and keep traditional employees on your payroll.

There are many ways to improve workplace culture. Start by asking current employees what changes you could make to boost morale and keep the environment fresh. Then, compare these ideas with your employee expectations. If you can create a balance, your bottom line will thank you.

Increase Employee Engagement

Did you know that nearly 50 percent of employees remain disengaged in the workplace? A lack of engagement decreases productivity, discourages morale, and wreaks havoc on your bottom line.

More and more often, companies fail to capture the attention and respect of traditional employees. This has, in a very serious way, contributed to the growing gig economy. Employees want more variety, stronger financial security, and a message they can support.

Consider Hiring Contractors

Finally, perhaps the best way to adapt to the growing gig economy is to hire contractors yourself. Ask yourself the following questions:

• Which positions made sense a year ago, but no longer make sense now?
• What employees are staying?
• What employees are leaving?
• What positions would prove financially beneficial if outsourced?

At nTech Workforce, we understand how unnerving it can be to adapt to changes brought on by the gig economy, especially when you’ve worked with traditional employees for years. For more information about our IT staffing solutions, contact our experienced team. We look forward to assisting with your hiring needs!