Partner Article

Why on-demand is in demand

TaskRabbit’s James Hamlin explores the sharing economy…

The world of work, and specifically traditional employment, is rapidly changing. The transformation of this is due in part to the freelance economy; increasing with popularity to the extent that 4.61 million people now consider themselves self-employed. A better, smarter, more flexible way of working has come about as a result of the digital revolution, and ultimately, on-demand is now in-demand.

As most things in life become “on demand,” people naturally wonder why their working lives remain so firmly stuck in the analogue age of 9 to 5. Increasingly, technology exists that can enable us to work the way that we want, for whomever we want, and at the times that suit us best. The sharing economy means that anyone with a car can become an Uber driver, or homeowners can rent out rooms on AirBnB. But the sharing economy has created a market for people’s skill and time, not just assets for renting out, which has huge implications for the way we’ll work in the future.

Recent research from PwC predicts that the sharing economy will be worth £140bn by 2025 – 20 times the size of today – powered by new online “labour exchanges” that connect in-demand skills to on-demand workers. This represents a revolution in our relationship with work and how we procure services - offering an alternative to the traditional 9-5 and helping to shape the future of work.

What’s encouraging about the future of work is that the supply of skills is matched by demand. People live busy lives, time is one of our biggest assets, and people are struggling to find the time for chores and errands. Now, thanks to the proliferation of mobile adoption it’s easier than ever to connect consumers to a wide pool of labour and talent to do everything from cleaning, to house painting and DIY, to dog walking, and often at competitive rates and usually with a much greater degree of flexibility. It’s a boon for busy people who want tasks done quickly, efficiently and at quality, and also for those who want work to fit work around their lives rather than the other way around.

Governments are cottoning on to the benefits of the sharing economy with the European Commission publicly backing on demand work. In part, this represents a hope that Europe can make up lost ground on the U.S., which has pioneered the sharing economy; but it’s also a recognition that it’s a model that can bring employment and a secondary income to a significant portion of the population.

Most importantly, there’s a huge market for on demand workers - London is TaskRabbit’s fastest growing market, with Tasker earnings rising by 212% year on year in the capital. This is echoed by our research in the UK which recently highlighted that sleep and work are Britain’s main priorities, leaving them with little free time to do anything else—consumers need our services to thrive. Services like TaskRabbit are designed to facilitate on demand living by making it easy to find the right Tasker to come and complete the job at a specific timeframe. It means that the procurer can schedule a job that they want done to the very minute, while Taskers can pick and choose their hours and hourly compensation at will. Just as people turn to apps to find everything from cheap car insurance to local tradespeople, it will soon become second nature to find a willing worker for jobs around the home.

The impact on millions of ordinary people – those who find it difficult to access traditional full-time employment, and those who want to work part-time or during their preferred hours – will be life-changing. A new world of tech-enabled working practice is here, but this is just the beginning…

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by James Hamlin .