The nine-to-five life doesn’t suit everyone, and the idea of a so-called job for life is largely a feature of the past. So what are the alternatives? For those seeking dynamism in their daily work, does the gig economy still appeal or is the lack of security and absence of other benefits putting people off? Are more senior people opting for portfolio careers, where they act as consultants or contractors for a number of clients?
Lynda Barry is a career consultant who works with clients in Ireland and overseas, including the US. Many of her clients feel there is a fundamental mismatch with their chosen career. “I ask all my clients, did they select this career, or did it select them? Ninety-eight per cent have said that it selected them.”
She says that while the great resignation did not come to pass, postpandemic, a huge number of workers are re-evaluating their careers.
“During Covid their job was just them in their bedroom – no work colleagues or managers or meetings to go to,” Barry says. “So many began to wonder whether they even liked their job. And now that there is a return to the office, they feel like they are back chained to the desk. They are not stimulated in this role and are instead looking to prioritise their freedom and flexibility.”
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Flexibility is the cornerstone of the gig economy. Although the gig economy can be seen broadly as all kinds of contingent or non-standard work, it typically refers to online labour platforms or platform work – think Uber, Deliveroo or Airbnb. The growth of the global gig economy is forecast to reach US$455 billion (€431 billion) in 2023, but it is difficult to know how many people in Ireland are engaged in this type of work, says Anne Keegan, who is full professor of human resource management at University College Dublin.
“That is the million-euro question,” she says. “Conventional labour statistics are not very good at telling us how many people work in the gig economy. There are clearly differences between working for Deliveroo for two hours a week and driving 60 hours a week for a ride-hailing platform. Is it a side-hustle for four hours a week or a more than full-time job? People may have a profile on a number of platforms but may not be that active.”
In so-called portfolio careers there is a bit of Instagram vs reality where they see this fantasy in their mind. In reality, it’s not an option in Limerick or Co Westmeath
Research supports the general conclusion that online work is growing but the same research suggests that a small number of workers can make a viable living this way. A 2018 survey of nearly 39,000 internet users in 16 EU member states estimated that a very small proportion of the working age population – on average about 1.4 per cent – engages in platform work as their main form of employment.
“Overall, in Ireland we haven’t seen much growth in the gig economy, and the numbers haven’t changed that much,” says Mary Connaughton, director of CIPD Ireland.
Those working in the gig economy tend to be those early in their career, she says, “perhaps the student with a part-time job who wants that flexibility”.
The relative autonomy and flexibility of working in the gig economy is invariably overshadowed by the lack of security. Zero-hours contracts are commonplace and there is a paucity of benefits such as paid holidays and sick leave.
“Platforms by and large deny they have employment relationships or responsibilities for workers, suggesting that many of the workers on these platforms experience vulnerability and precarity in having no recourse to employment security attached to traditional employment in countries like Ireland,” Keegan says. “Just because it is harder to see and more difficult to count, does not mean platform workers deserve less attention, or that decent work is not as much a right of platform workers than any workers.”
There are signs that the lines are blurring between traditional organisations and new online labour platforms, however, she notes. “Ikea acquired the online labour platform Task Rabbit in 2017 suggesting a shift that may lead to growing levels of gig work stimulated by the activities of traditional organisations wanting to leverage the benefits of the platform economy.”
Nonetheless, Keegan does not believe we are witnessing the death of the nine-to-five job. “I doubt we are seeing the end of traditional employment and regular employment relationships, particularly in Europe.”
Portfolio careers are similar to the gig economy in that workers typically have more than one stream of income. Typically meaning a career that has encompassed several related or unrelated jobs, those with portfolio careers are sometimes known affectionately as slashers, given their various job titles. Connaughton says this option is on the increase particularly among senior level staff, keen to take a step back from a stressful job or use the move as a transition towards retirement.
Portfolio careers can evolve in different ways, Barry says. “They could maybe begin by doing a number of side gigs or else take that leap and go down that entrepreneurial route.” Many also mix it up, combining a part-time position and freelance work.
But Barry cautions that people have to be realistic when it comes to carving out their ideal career with a full stable of clients. “There is a bit of Instagram vs reality where they see this fantasy in their mind but in reality, it’s not an option in Limerick or Co Westmeath.”
The shift from a stable, probably pensionable job to the uncertainty of self-employment can also be difficult – “it’s certainly not for the not faint-hearted”.
Yet Barry sees it becoming more of a viable option, with hot talent market industries embracing this way of working out of necessity. “It has been in existence in the more creative industries such as freelancing in media and the arts, they are ahead of the game in that the hybrid model works well,” she says. “We have seen it on the corporate side less so, but it will be a future focus – I have seen it more in the US and it is coming down the line here in Ireland. Part-time contracts are still lagging in volume, but employers are going to have to start offering them more because that is what people want.”