Perspectives on the Future of Work: May 30

Upwork’s weekly column brings you the latest news on hiring and working with freelancers, freelancing, and the future of work.

Forbes | Four Ways Tech Will Dramatically Transform the Global Workforce

Some of the ways technology is changing—and will continue to change—the workforce and the workplace are fairly obvious (telecommuting, anyone?). Others are less so. Tech writer Kavi Guppta distills four of the most pervasive changes we can expect:

1. Everyone will work remotely in some capacity. Beyond writers who can work at coffee shops with WiFi and illustrators who have long produced imagery for clients halfway around the globe, advancements such as drone technology will enable even some logistics-oriented jobs to be performed remotely.
2. Everyone will be a free agent. The job market will actually be more of a job marketplace, with increased demand for services that connect people with skills or resources to the people who need their help.
3. People and companies will embrace outsourcing. “As talent continues to transcend borders, and workers can demand better support and wages, the workforce will increasingly outsource or unbundle itself to reduce costs and reinvest savings in other ways,” Guppta predicted.
4. Skills development and training will be overhauled. Massive open online courses (MOOCs) and other types of distance learning will make education more accessible—a boon to workers who want to learn new skills or expand their knowledge.

HR.BL.com | Virtual Is the New Reality for Workplace Teams, Says New Study

More proof that having an entire organization headquartered in one building is becoming a thing of the past: 52 percent of the 9,000 knowledge workers (i.e. software engineers, architects, writers, and others whose jobs focus on “thinking”) who responded to a recent survey said they now work more in virtual teams across locations than they have in the past.

The survey, commissioned by communications and collaboration software company Unify, encompassed workers in the United States, the UK, and Germany. Of those surveyed, 36 percent said “creative thinking is one of the biggest benefits of working with people outside of traditional, physically located teams,” according to HR.BLR.com. What’s more, 42 percent felt that virtual teams can be more effective than teams that work face to face.

Technology, of course, is enabling this sort of collaboration across locations and even borders. Fifty-seven percent of survey participants said they use online or cloud-based on-demand tools for virtual collaboration and project management. As a result, Unify CEO Jon Pritchard stated in a press release, “it’s our belief that knowledge workers will increasingly want to define how, when, and where they work. It’s up to businesses to enable this behavior and manage further disruption and change.”

Organizations that insist knowledge workers perform their tasks in a specific locale could find it difficult to attract and retain top-notch talent.

Wise Bread | The Five Biggest Mistakes Freelancers Make

As a freelancer, you can be booked with a solid roster of loyal clients and still have a flailing business. Why? According to writer Amanda Meadows, you could be making one (or several) of these mistakes:

1. Forgetting to withhold taxes. For freelancers in the States, she advises automatically putting away at least 20 percent of every payment to help cover the IRS’s 15.3 percent self-employment tax as well as state and local taxes.
2. Neglecting to save for retirement. “Considering the uneven payment schedule of freelancers, a place where your money can grow slowly over time is an important safety net to have,” Meadows noted.
3. Losing track of expenses. And not just things like supplies and transportation. “Do you spend hours of unpaid time and/or money on research before doing the job? This should all be tracked and never go beyond a certain limit you determine, based on the work,” Meadows advised.
4. Failing to set a schedule. Good time management will help you juggle multiple jobs—and ensure you don’t lose momentum during time between jobs.
5. Opting not to market yourself. You may have plenty of work on your plate right now, but you can’t assume such will be the case two months from now. That’s why it’s important to maintain a website, start a blog, submit articles to sites and publications in your specific field, and network online and in person.

Entrepreneur | Three Benefits of Hiring an “Entrepreneur-in-Residence”

If you’re an entrepreneur yourself, the idea of hiring an entrepreneur-in-residence may seem redundant. But Hawke Media CEO—and serial entrepreneur—Erik Huberman makes a solid case as to why small and startup businesses, as much as large conglomerates, can benefit from having an “intrepreneur.”

For instance, “entrepreneurs-in-residence [EIRs] can lead spinoff brands and equity deals, freeing up the CEO while the business gains new market shares and audiences,” Huberman wrote. “CEOs should include EIRs in meetings that concern venture capital, influencers, and agencies. This way, the entrepreneurs-in-residence can connect the dots about portfolio businesses and hit the ground running with spinoff brands.”

Perhaps most important, an intrepreneur can—and should—have skills that complement those of the CEO. A chief executive who’s a whiz at striking equity deals, but has little operational expertise, might want an entrepreneur-in-residence with experience in manufacturing or fulfillment; a CEO who is an expert at public relations and networking could benefit from a numbers-crunching EIR.

What business trends have caught your attention recently? Tell us about them in the comments below!

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