On-Demand Economy Spurring Use of Contract Workers

Employers may love the loyalty full-time workers offer, but they are increasingly looking to freelancers to complete specific projects in the growing 'on-demand economy.' Still, full-time employees need not fear too much for their futures, says Rowan Benecke, global chair of Burson-Marsteller. 'The on-demand economy and these new modes of working are creating as many new opportunities for employment, for revenue creation and flexibility as they are in disrupting them,' says Benecke. 'People are going to re-skill and retool for new ways of generating revenue and managing different work streams.' According to the Workforce of the FutureSurvey, 56 percent of employers said having a full-time employee makes it easier to accommodate the ebbs and flows in work volume, as compared to a contract worker. Meanwhile, the employers surveyed said that contract workers are less loyal or invested. The survey, sponsored and developed by the Aspen Institute's Future of Work Initiative, the Markle Foundation, Burson-Marsteller and TIME, looks at how companies are coping with new employment models such as the growth of contingent and contract work and the On-Demand Economy.