Gig Economy Succession Plans And The Uber Advantage
If you don’t believe in the gig economy, look at Uber. Uber hosts arguably the most accessible and well-known gig work available across 75 countries. They employ 160,000 contract drivers and add 50,000 a month. Talk about a huge workforce and a job creator.
Plus, despite the overwhelming evidence of a pending corporate collapse, they’re still getting 50,000 applications a month. If this were a traditional company, that just wouldn’t happen – right? I know of companies that struggle with the lay-off effect 5+ years after layoffs. You know the story. They have a few furloughs or layoffs and all of a sudden, it’s showing up in candidate surveys from the ones who took a job elsewhere and all over your Glassdoor profile.
I firmly believe that the gig elements of this job are what makes Uber the exception when it comes to applies. They take the approach of touting the work/life balance perks that appeal to their target persona – work on demand, make your own hours, easy, pave your own path, you already have the equipment, etc. With that value proposition, the applies roll in despite the fact they don’t offer healthcare benefits, ping pong tables or free lunch.
To boot, none of these people even have an HR rep they can call if shit goes wrong. Talk about keeping costs low. All Uber offers is the perks of a gig world and the illusion of the path to a job that truly is a “build your own story” model.
OK, Now What: Gig Economy Succession Plans
It’s time to start your succession plan and identify roles that are going to go gig. Move slowly. Start with the ones that are primarily project based – creative, PR, marketing segments, project based engineering for example; people who are utilized for specific tasks because they have specific skills.
No that doesn’t mean you have to go all in for the Uber model of “work whenever you want.” You can set hours and weekly meetings. Just stay true to the flexibility and perks of the gig economy and your attraction strategies will change completely. So will your bottom line. Even a work from home program is a strong incentive in today’s economy where large employers are rolling back their work from home programs. To me, that’s the equivalent of deciding to light your house with candles instead of using the light switch but I’m not the boss of everyone’s employee perks program.
Proof: Your company can save up to $100,000 per employee with a work from home program. Plus, that’s the perk that sells your job. Just offering the freedom to work on project based work and flexibility to vary your day to day work is a big incentive.
Millenials have the attention spans of flies, anyway.
Now, Uber’s corporate brand on the other hand…
recruiting Workplace Trends gig economy gig economy succession plan recruiting advice uber uber driver recruiting stats
Kat Kibben View All →
Kat Kibben [they/them] is a keynote speaker, writing expert, and LGBTQIA+ advocate who teaches hiring teams how to write inclusive job postings that will get the right person to apply faster.
Before founding Three Ears Media, Katrina was a CMO, Technical Copywriter, and Managing Editor for leading companies like Monster, Care.com, and Randstad Worldwide. With 15+ years of recruitment marketing and training experience, Katrina knows how to turn talented recruiting teams into talented writers who write for people, not about work.
Today, Katrina is frequently featured as an HR and recruiting expert in publications like The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, and Forbes. They’ve been named to numerous lists, including LinkedIn’s Top Voices in Job Search & Careers. When not speaking, writing, or training, you’ll find Katrina traveling the country in their van or spending some much needed downtime with the dogs that inspired the name Three Ears Media.