Are Company Values Delaying the Gig Economy?
ATLANTA, GA. August 16, 2018 – Concerns over the loss of company values may be delaying adoption of the gig economy, according to a new survey.
In the gig economy, freelance and contract workers will replace much of the salaried workforce. The Harvard Business Review finds 150 million salaried workers have already been displaced, with expectations of filling 40% of the workforce by 2020. But a new survey by Cornerstone International Group (CIG) shows that almost 90% of respondents still rely on full-time employees (FTE) for two-thirds or more of their workforce.
You can download the survey report here.
“The gig economy is a radical change to the traditional workforce structure,” says Larry Shoemaker, president of CIG. “We may have been overestimating how quickly it would happen”.
One overlooked reason for a more measured adoption of the gig economy is concern over company values. Over 63% of respondents cited low involvement in, and knowledge of, company values as their biggest concern in replacing salaried employees with contingents.
“The concern over company values should not come as a surprise,” says George Bradt, a leading management authority and consultant to Cornerstone New York. “Your culture is your competitive advantage. Competitors can reverse engineer your processes and poach your people, but they can’t replicate your culture.”
These reservations notwithstanding, survey results convey a sense of inevitability with regard to structural workforce changes. Proponents of the gig economy cite flexibility as the biggest management benefit of on-demand labor. Over 15% have already changed their recruiting strategy and 74% are in the process of doing so – a total of just under 90% who acknowledge that change is on its way.
Cornerstone International Group provides global executive search and leadership development services through 56 offices in 35 countries. The new workforce report is the 11th annual survey of global business and economic expectations.