In his book “The Elephant and the Flea,” (The Elephant and the Flea), renowned business management expert Charles. Charles Handy compares the corporate workplace and freelance workers to elephants and fleas, respectively, to explain the employment culture centered on freelance workers.
In 2001, he put up the idea that we should develop into independent talents rather than rely on large-scale organizations. Unfortunately, even for Charles, relatively few individuals at the time actively accepted his reasoning. It’s not easy to leave behind the security and stability of huge corporations and embrace a life of freelancing, despite the fact that Handy’s vision of the future is compelling. However, as time went on, a small group of his supporters actively sought freedom. It’s not instinct that makes us stick with the same firm and put off buying a home, but rather the employment climate, the way of life, and the societal norms of the moment.
A single job is no longer the norm or the norm of expectation
In the past, businesses had to rely on full-time workers to provide a consistent supply of labour. Worker demand aside, this is a crucial component of successful businesses. Workers typically agree to contracts with their employers that stipulate full-day, weekday work and monthly remuneration in exchange for their services. But things have started to shift for the better recently. Freelancers are more sought after than traditional employees in today’s job market. The gig economy has obviously acquired a place in the entire sector. This outcome represents the orientation of enterprises.
In the past, when you stated freelance work, you would think of specific disciplines, such as writing, design, programme development, and so on. Today, it’s possible to work as a freelancer in every industry; full-time employment is on the decline, and it may soon be obsolete altogether. Freelancers go by many other titles, including independent contractors, contract employees, and sole proprietors. If it fails to thrive, it is considered a solo operation, and if that fails to take off, it is dubbed a freelancer. A “freelance worker” is an employee who signs contracts on an as-needed basis rather than being employed by a single company.
Because a deadly catastrophe awaits them if they are unable to handle their freedom well, it is also the liberty with the highest risk. Since everyone can take short-term employment, it can be stated that this system has produced more jobs; conversely, it can also be said that this system has resulted in the development of a huge number of cheap labour. Only corporations stand to gain from the sharing economy. Making a living is more challenging now.
Full-time workers’ tendency to join unions is falling in today’s labour market
Due to the downturn, traditional sectors are laying off full-time workers, while newer industries are depending on technological advancements to cut down on labour needs. Even the most competent among us will, sooner or later, have no choice but to make a living as freelancers or gig workers. The final makeup of the labor market will consist of a small number of official employees and a majority of freelance workers once artificial intelligence and automation have supplanted most of the manpower.
This pattern has been developing for quite some time. It’s unrealistic to think that we may get hired by a company as ordinary employees in the modern period. In the end, we must all establish our own self-sufficient footings, which may mean striking out on your own to establish a firm or operating as a sole proprietor. Freelancers who are also highly skilled can easily outearn their full-time employee counterparts.
At the end of 2017, Xue Zhaofeng, a professor at Peking University’s National School of Development, launched his own channel on the Chinese knowledge sharing app “Get,” where he regularly uploaded videos of his personal lectures on economics.
There is an annual subscription price of RMB 199 ( NT$888) for access to this channel. After half a year, in August 2017, the number of paid subscriptions exceeded 170,000. A total of over 250,000 people had signed up as of March 2018. When extrapolated to a population of 250,000, subscriptions might bring in as much as 50 million RMB (about NT$223 million). In China, Xue Zhaofeng has risen to fame thanks to the rise of the Internet.
His lectures on economics have generated a sizable audience willing to pay for content related to the fields of law economics and political economy, which are his primary areas of academic interest.
Professor Xue Zhaofeng stepped down from his post in 2018. He decided to leave his secure employment and start freelancing instead. Many Chinese professors have emerged as influential online voices in recent years.
Is it still preferable to hire people full-time in the modern workplace?
Is it just a rough go for freelancers in general?
A new reality necessitates a reevaluation of our lifestyle and professional priorities. The current perception that full-time jobs are superior and that freelancers are at a disadvantage should be revised.
Once upon a time, people needed the organization to survive, but now we can fend for ourselves financially. Companies cannot guarantee us a job for life, so it’s in everyone’s best interest to do everything we can to increase our worth while we’re there. Our work isn’t just for the firm; it’s also meant to maximally reflect the level of skill the company expects from us, and from there to boost our own individual worth. Employers use their workers as a resource, but employees can use their employer as a resource as well.
However, in the future, working as a sole proprietor will become a necessary choice.
It’s not the “one person” at the centre of a “one-person enterprise,” but the “enterprise” itself. So, it’s not about how many people are employed so much as having something of worth like a business, making money to match, and having material possessions. There is a consistent trajectory for discussions on work-related topics in the future, including retirement, full-time unemployment, and the end of working itself. The formal staffing system of large organisations is relied on by some who stubbornly cling to the employment practises of the 19th and 20th centuries.
They refuse to adapt to new circumstances because they value the familiarity of the familiar and the certainty that comes from a solid knowledge base.
When looking into the future, how relevant are things like tradition and history?
The world is different now. Would you be wiped out if you still had not let go of the past? It’s safe to say that the office is one of the many things that have vanished as a direct effect of the coronavirus.
There has been a shift away from traditional “work-from-the-office” commutes and toward “work-from-anywhere” models, where employees can complete their duties from the comfort of their own homes. Professor Linda Gretten of the London Business School has proposed this theory. Both “The Shift: The Future of Work Is Already Here” and “Life Strategies at 100” are written by her, and she is considered an authority on the subject of contemporary labor and professional studies. The best talent for high performance will stand out more prominently if everyone works remotely. Companies will start streamlining operations after the COVID-19 pandemic is over.
He is now a self-employed economic consultant who correctly forecast both the Asian currency crisis of 1997 and the global financial crisis of 2008. AI and robotics will enter the workforce in a big way in 2021
Chief Executive Officer of Bain & Company, Manny Maceda, predicts as much
These three experts are widely regarded as among the best in their fields, and they all agree that the rise of telecommuting and automated processes will have a negative impact on employment rates. Not only do they hold this attitude, but so do many South Korean professionals, the author included. Organizational simplicity, in which only talented employees can survive, is likely to become a major subject in 2021 as this predicted future progressively becomes a reality and the number of employment officially shrinks. There’s no way to add back to the cut roles, and the workplace will be a fair arena for the kind of cutthroat competition that ensures only the strongest survive.
In the past, talented people aimed for a lifetime of employment. Talented people nowadays, on the other hand, care more about opportunities for professional development and a pleasant work environment. Therefore, businesses need to facilitate self-improvement for workers and make it easy for staff to telecommute or work from home. Furthermore, open and honest assessment of performance is a must. All of these measures are taken to boost retention. Talents are acceptable. There are a lot of people looking for work, but it’s always challenging to locate those that actually have what it takes. After all, firms need to alter the nature of work in order to retain exceptional individuals. The general pattern is consistent regardless of the specific driver (improvements in technology, effects of the new crown epidemic, talent needs, etc.). That is to say, we have no control over what is ahead, and a world where only the strongest survive is on the horizon.
Successful migration is a key to survival
There are now fewer linguistic and cultural barriers between people than there were a century ago. The desk, the coffee shop, and the Mercedes-Benz train all seem the same when we’re working on the computer, so we might as well be in Seoul, New York, or Chiang Mai. Regular videoconferencing has made it irrelevant whether my coworkers are in the room with me, the next office over, or halfway across the world. Computers and smartphones have made it possible to instantly communicate with anyone, wherever in the globe. These days, practically everything is completed on a computer, and all transactions take place online.
To put it another way, if you have a laptop linked to the Internet, you can do your job just as effectively at the office as you can at home, the coffee shop, or a hotel room—even if you’re in a different country. It won’t make a difference. It’s the beginning of the age of jobs that can provide for people in excellent health, and it’s also the beginning of the age when they must be able to do so. It is said of such individuals that they are “unrestricted by place and exercise their working potential,” a term known as “Location Independent” (Location Independent). To thrive in the future, people will need to be able to work remotely, communicate digitally with others, and travel freely.
While people should feel free to travel and dwell wherever they like, this does not imply constant upheaval. Being able to work but choosing not to is not the same as being unable to work and giving up. You need to be familiar with the digital and network-based smart work environment if you want to be able to conduct business anywhere, regardless of country, region, or location.
Second, it must be autonomous from the rest of the organisation and have the resources to grow its own productivity and run its own operations. This is the only way that resilience can improve. Furthermore, the job position is not fixed; even supporters of classifying workers into “high” and “low” categories will have employment that they enjoy more than others.
The original meaning of the word “nomadic” related to the people who relied on water and pasture for subsistence while living in Central Asia, Mongolia, and other regions.
Later on, the term “nomadic” came to be used not just to describe actual nomads but also those who were unable to settle down in one location and were always on the move. Since many European nations are connected to one another and the language barrier is low, it is simple to travel between them in search of employment. As a result, “European digital nomads” and “commercial nomads” are additional names for those who travel the world while working online.
On the other hand, this idea has recently spread globally
Actually, digital nomads can be explained in two radically different ways: either by someone with exceptional ability who is frequently poached, so he actively switches jobs to give full play to his talents, or by someone who is forced to look around for job vacancies and income in order to make a living as a part-time or freelance worker. Despite the fact that they are both digital nomads, their circumstances couldn’t be more dissimilar. Both strength and competition play a role in determining the final outcome. The emphasis here is not on “migration,” per se, but on “spontaneous movement,” the idea that one is free to pursue economic and social opportunities wherever they want, regardless of borders or nationality.
Although many professionals today may not be affected by the rise of digital nomads, their offspring may find “geographical independence” to be less of a perk and more of a must in the modern workplace. Two options exist for those who would like to find employment and financial success in any part of the globe: To begin, corresponding with domestic businesses overseas over the Internet amounts to a form of remote employment.
It is possible to work with domestic companies whether you are in New York or Paris
The Internet has made it possible for people from different backgrounds to collaborate on writing, design, and IT development projects. It is not necessary for workers to travel abroad to carry out this type of work; it can just as easily be done in Korea. Work-wise, nothing has changed since I was in China; only my surroundings at home have evolved. Regardless, you still have to pay for basic necessities while in Seoul. You can utilise the same sum of money in Seoul or anywhere else in the world. The aforementioned objectives can only be attained if it is possible to maintain the same level of financial success while living and working in another country. It is possible to earn less money than you would at home if you move to a country with less living costs.
Second, you can work with companies in any place you visit for financial gain, be it through employment or entrepreneurship. Particularly common among freelancers and digital nomads are IT engineers and designers because they are less likely to encounter difficulties due to language issues and can utilise the same machines and software regardless of where they are located. As long as you can hold a basic conversation, learning a new language isn’t necessary. This approach is ideal for industries such as software engineering, graphic design, filmmaking, and video production because finished products can be shown in their purest form.
Both of the above approaches centre on using language and technology to accomplish their goals. The answer to the question of what kind of knowledge is required is now available. No matter how advanced machine translation becomes, human translators will always have the upper hand. New technology literacy, including programming, will be required for all positions.
Digital nomads from Korea need openness more than anything else.
We have spent the past 12 years studying under the strict guidance of teachers and administrators at elementary, middle, and high schools. It’s only natural to conform to the group mentality and follow the rules in a school like this. The language and culture of a country where everyone shares the same ethnic background tend to be more closed off to outsiders.
While young people in Europe take a global perspective when plotting out their professional and personal lives, we here in the United States are limited to thinking in terms of our immediate environment. The first step is to dismantle this structure.
These days, Seoul is home to a growing community of international digital nomads. When compared to other cities throughout the world, Seoul is a top destination for remote workers. Some may consider South Korea Hell’s North Korea, while others may find it to be the ideal location for a nomadic lifestyle. Although we have no control over where we were born, we are free to choose the country in which we will spend the rest of our lives. One of the first steps in becoming a digital nomad is to rid oneself of rigid thinking and adopt a more open perspective.
To those who have achieved economic freedom and openness, there are no longer any limits on their choices of employment, friendship, or family composition simply because of where they were born. Everything about now and the future is different from what our grandparents experienced. In that case, what is it that we should be instructing our kids in? Which skills and knowledge should we train them to have? Still, they are just “vocational students” in the end. Rather than just handing a kid a meal, it’s preferable to show him how to catch his own food.
My name is Tom William a expert content creator and SEO expert having Proven record of excellent writing demonstrated in a professional portfolio Impeccable grasp of the English language, including press releases and current trends in slang and details.
