Leaders, John wrote “The biggest cost reduction opportunity in financial services? It’s the gig economy” in April of 2022.
Key Learnings:
Cost is the main driver for freelancers.
He says, “Moving say a $100,000 average contractor that has a 40% markup to a talent platform with a 10-15% overhead cost would be game changing for many firms. Further savings are also possible by using a portion of this talent only when needed as opposed to typical long-term contracting arrangements.”
Changes to demand are the secondary reason as “greater use of gig workers overall greatly improves the ability of the business to flex to meet changes in demand”.
Inflation and decreased growth prospects are a catalyst.
He says, “With increasing inflation and lowered economic growth prospects, the road will not get any easier for the foreseeable future.”
What’s the big deal?
I’d say less than 5% of the work we do gets approved to be released. Because of this, the fact that such a high position was allowed to say anything is proof in itself of the growth of the freelance economy.