Upsurge in Uncertain Work

From Robert Reich at the HuffingtonPost.com:
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As Labor Day looms, more Americans than ever don't know how much they'll be earning next week or even tomorrow.

This varied group includes independent contractors, temporary workers, the self-employed, part-timers, freelancers, and free agents.   Most file 1099s rather than W2s, for tax purposes.

On demand and on call -- in the "share" economy, the "gig" economy, or, more prosaically, the "irregular" economy -- the result is the same: no predictable earnings or hours.

It's the biggest change in the American workforce in over a century, and it's happening at lightening speed.

It's estimated that in five years over 40 percent of the American labor force will have uncertain work; in a decade, most of us.

Increasingly, businesses need only a relatively small pool of "talent" anchored in the enterprise -- innovators and strategists responsible for the firm's unique competitive strength.

Everyone else is becoming fungible [Definition: dictionary.com: being of such nature or kind as to be freely exchangeable or replaceable, in whole or in part, for another of like nature or kind.], sought only for their reliability and low cost.

Complex algorithms can now determine who's needed to do what and when, and then measure the quality of what's produced.

Reliability can be measured in experience ratings.  Software can seamlessly handle all transactions -- contracts, billing, payments, taxes.

All this allows businesses to be highly nimble -- immediately responsive to changes in consumer preferences, overall demand, and technologies.

While shifting all the risks of such changes to workers...

Even giant corporations are devolving into spot-auction networks.   Amazon's algorithms evaluate and pay workers for exactly what they contribute.

Apple directly employs fewer than 10 percent of the 1 million workers who design, make and sell iMacs and iPhones...
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Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/the-upsurge-in-uncertain-_b_8036690.html?