Skip college and go work in a GIG!
Learning a trade can be more valuable than earning a college degree. Today, most students try college but half never complete degrees. A tight job market has turned people into hot prospects.
According to the study on State of Independence in America 2017, the independent workforce is now 41 million people strong, representing about 31 percent of the private U.S. workforce. These independents represent every age, demographic, gender, skill and income group.
Let's start at the beginning and develop a common understanding of what the Gig Economy is and what it is not.
- A single professional engagement, usually of short duration, as of jazz or rock musicians.
- Any job, especially one of short or uncertain duration.The first reference became widely used in the 1920's as jazz became more popular in America. Musicians would refer to the work they would secure with a band, whether for one night or for one month, as a "gig."
The new world of work, the Gig Economy, operates and grows. Thriving in the Gig Economy will hone in on the most important aspects of these trends and the implications for individuals and businesses. It will explain the digital talent marketplaces and how they fit into the talent landscape, outlining their features and cost structures.
Moreover, companies must organize differently now to effectively deploy these gig workers.
More importantly, they must empower their workforce in new ways, because not only are they engaging gig workers, they are preparing their own employees to become the gig workers of the future.
Today, entrepreneurship is not a job, it's a life. And choosing to work on one's own is every bit as much entrepreneurship as starting a venture backed company.
Source: Marion McGovern: Thriving in the Gig Economy: How to Capitalize and Compete in the New World of Work
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