We usually hear about concepts such as 4th industrial revolution, the economy’s uberization, and gig economy. The new generations entering the labour market give signals every day. Those who manage to interpret these signals, will be the winners.  

By Martín Padulla for staffingamericalatina

We are living the 4ht Industrial Revolution. Intelligent robots, drones, 3D printers, driverless vehicles, big data, smart production, financial technology and block chains are already part of our reality.  In certain countries, the phenomenon is stronger than in others. Some disruptive innovations still have elevated costs. “Printing” a burger still is more expensive than buying it at the supermarket. But it is only a matter of time.

During the last World Economic Forum in Davos, the 4.0 industry was particularly discussed. How will workspaces be transformed?  Will jobs be created or lost? Will the gap between developed and emerging countries grow or become smaller? The common conclusion of the forum is that the revolution will be arriving as a tsunami, transforming every system and processes in is path.

The 4th industrial revolution, subsequent to vapour energy, electricity and electronics, will end with millions of jobs in developed countries around the world, while creating a vast amount of new jobs. Manual and repetitive jobs seem to be the first to be eliminated by the tsunami. For that reason, the impact of robotics will cause a structural change in our societies, which can be minimized with a proactive effort to reconvert human capital.

Though the word gig seems new, it is very old in other areas. It was born in the argot of jazz in the United States, by the beginning of the 20st century, when the orchestras of this wonderful music gender were discussing spontaneous collaborations.

What is the gig, on demand or sharing economy? We became familiar with companies such as Uber, Airbnb, Homeaway, Love Home Swap, Lyft, BlablaCar and Amazon Flex before understanding these concepts. Furthermore, these business models have grown vertiginously, posing a menace for old fashioned labour markets in several countries and industries around the world.

Latin Americans already offer and share accommodation, meals and transport; they sell and buy tickets or worn clothes in online fairs; ask and borrow money, not only in paper and coin, but in bitcoins; they apply for jobs or hire professionals in labour marketplaces. In each of these areas, the uberization of the economy is a fact and the phenomenon does not seem to stop in our active entrepreneurial ecosystem. A completely disruptive fact, which cannot be regulated until it explodes in an unexpected, exponential way from which there is no returning point.

So, the correct question would be, what do the companies of this economy that have grown at a really fast pace have in common?

The most remarkable characteristics are the following:

• Connection and information. The base of these new forms of economy is ubiquity.
• They comprise original, practical and very competitive business models.
• Labour flexibility. Detractors claim that there are more freelance workers, who promote “on and off work” or gig jobs. Probably, they cannot see the much deeper change that is going on. In a peer to peer or sharing economy, the employee-employer and the client-company relationships change, as what is basically going on is an exchange. Everything can belong to everyone, I can host and be hosted…
• Different paying methods. Cash tends to disappear as transactions (economic and relationships) are virtual. This can shift the status and turn a client or a collaborator into a shareholder.
• These models have caused trouble with the status quo. They are disruptive and represent challenges for traditional labour markets. As it already happened in previous industrial revolutions, disruption causes resistance.

Who are the key players of this phenomenon? Young people, who are also capable of spreading this models to other generations with incredible efficiency. Facebook and Twitter might have been the clearest background cases, as they put information producers and consumers in touch without producing any content themselves. The users of both social networks happily produce content for free.

Generation Y outstands for its different beliefs, expectations and attitudes when compared to previous generations. They do not trust status quo. While I write this down, they represent a third of the workforce of the 500 largest companies in Latin America. They are concerned with non-renewable resources, climate change, the carbon footprint and the hydric footprint. They believe in values linked to cooperation, and in social sharing resources and communication technologies that reduce the cost of finding and doing transactions among individuals in real time. Young people have found models to interact with a community that fosters autoregulation by building a reputation based on ratings provided by the most reliable source: themselves.

This generation believes that work is a “thing” and not a “place”. There are several surveys that show that Gen Y prefer intrinsic aspects of work and show interest in developing a career while keeping work-life balance. Gender is not a determinant factor in the vision youngsters have of the labour market.

What role does education play in this context? A few days ago, the President of the United States said that “computer sciences are no longer an optional skills, they have become a basic skills of the new economy”. The interaction between companies-society-school/university needs to become more profound and efficient.

The new workforce will leave the industrial era behind, with its system of gathering people in the same workspace, during a certain schedule and in precise ways. The line between work and leisure has already started becoming blurry, mostly due to constant mobility and the elimination of fixed schedules. Any place can be a place to work. For those who are entering the economy, these facts are linked to life quality.

Among its indicators to assess life quality in its member countries, the OECD Better Life Index has the Work-Life Balance. In this particular area, Turkey is the country with the worst score, immediately followed by Chile and Mexico. We face major challenges in our region to attract, retain and develop young talent. We must adapt our companies to the new workforce. We must think about every team member as an intrapreneur who values work-life balance and who seeks to develop in socially responsible companies.

Companies that do not generate this context shall lose the opportunity of having entrepreneurs amongst their work teams who could become competitors, having the founders of the companies that might enable them to take the next qualitative step.

Facebook learnt this first hand. Years ago, the company rejected a candidate from whom, a few years later, they would buy a disruptive company: Whatsapp.

About Martin Padulla

Founder and Managing Director of staffingamericalatina. Martin Padulla is Sociologist (USAL), MBA (UCA) and labour markets expert. He published “Flexible Work in South America” and “Regulatory framework for private employment agencies in Latin America” two books about the new realities of work in Latin America.

@MartinPadulla

mpadulla@staffingamericalatina.com

About staffingamericalatina

It is the unique independent digital media specialized in Latin American´s labour markets.

Produce and spread contents, researches and developments about issues such us Employability, Youth Employment, Training for Employment, Decent Work, Private Employment Agencies, Active policies for employment, Teleworking, Public and private actions for the creation of decent work, Green Jobs and Corporate Social Responsibility.

It is the meeting point for companies, providers, candidates, service´s companies, academics and independent professionals of Latin America.

Follow staffingamericalatina on Twitter: @staffingal