The employee-employer relationship is constantly reforming. It has become more about sharing and collaboration rather than completely transactional. 60% of PWC survey respondents from China, India, Germany, the UK, and the US believe that very few people will have a long-term, stable income in the future.
How can collaborative consumption of labour benefit your business?
The gig economy and shared labour are becoming more and more popular, as they promote mobility and bring resources from where there is a surplus to where there is a need. With this, businesses can stabilise the workforce, promote efficient use of underutilised resources, reduce layoffs, and overcome the labour shortage.
How do workers benefit?
Contingent workers generally work on their own terms, meaning they choosing the jobs, setting their own hours, and sometimes providing other resources required to get the work done. Gig workers find customers who are looking for their services on digital platforms, while cloud workers use online job markets to make requests and take up freelance opportunities.
The role of peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms
Peer-to-peer platforms bring together people who are looking for a particular service and workers who can provide this service for them. These platforms help people delegate and outsource work based on demand. They make resource utilisation extremely efficient by giving jobs to those who need them, and they provide special features that foster social trust.
It can be difficult to source talent locally. On the other hand, looking for resources online makes it much easier. Gig work happens to be a lot less expensive and can help you get work done much faster.
Even though P2P platforms can be highly inclusive, individuals who lack technological skills or are unaware of digital labour fail to participate. Most workers who are a part of the collaborative economy are highly educated and happen to be self-employed or underemployed, according to the European Parliament’s research on employment and social affairs.
Drawbacks of P2P platforms
Privacy concerns
Privacy becomes a great concern, as the on-demand economy often requires both consumers and workers to share their data without any legal framework to protect it. Zoho Workerly is compliant with the GDPR and helps manage consent.
Employment protection laws lack clarity
Gig workers are not technically employees, so there may be confusion around minimum wage laws, what insures worker safety and security, and rules that govern employment agencies. Agencies are generally liable in case something goes wrong, as they become the employer on record. Zoho Workerly brings clarity to these issues by providing options for agencies to define their terms and conditions.
Payments and taxes
Receiving payouts on a regular basis remains a concern for gig workers. Individuals can avoid this issue by generating timesheets and invoices for all jobs. Customised invoices can be generated for sector-specific taxes using Zoho Workerly’s integration with Zoho Books. Check out the different invoice templates here.
Safety and security
It is crucial to establish trust by providing ultimate safety and security, especially on a platform where individuals are interacting with strangers. Along with feedback and user reviews, it can be extremely useful to conduct a thorough background check on all gig workers before hiring them. Zoho’s integration with Checker makes this process straightforward.
Wrapping up
The collaborative economy offers unique benefits that other employment modalities might not typically offer. The trend is growing fast, but the processing and implementation of this kind of labour require refinement with active intervention. The shared economy has the potential to work in favour of workers, consumers, and businesses if handled correctly.
