Contract work and the the changing workforce

Enterprise and entrepreneurism is gaining momentum in the communications industry, particularly in the digital marketing/advertising fields. Due to the rapid pace that the industry moves at and the technological advances, it can make it hard for large companies to keep up with the ever expanding type of work that their clients can request. This has created opportunity for small to medium enterprises along with contract workers specifically to create specialty fields which has led to a far more segmented industry to what Australia has had in the past with the traditional full service agencies becoming less prominent. The focus on this piece will revolve around contract workers in the advertising industry and the benefits that this can have for the businesses employing them, along with how agency models can adapt to the changing workforce and what it can mean for the future of the industry.

Entering the workforce in the advertising industry has always been a challenging industry to get into where experience is key and the only way you could get experience was through interning for free for a long period of time without any guarantee for a paid position afterwards. Today with the tools available to young people, the rapid pace that digital/social marketing is growing, there are brands that are looking for young people to fill the void and use their existing knowledge in the fields and they’re willing to pay while people are still studying. Young people today are looking at their job prospects and are starting to more frequently choose contractor work which is essentially starting their own business. For the people that do this, it’s not so much about taking a leap any more as it is just taking the next step.

For the employers with this trend the changes are seen as just as significant. The businesses ultimately will consist of owners and talent assemblers who will then employ the contract workers for everything else. With the platforms that exist already it’s not out of this world to say that these talent assemblers will be able to hire entire teams at the click of a button as they will be able to search for contractors based on their skills, what they've done and whether they’re available to work or not.

It’s no secret that in the advertising industry and communications as a whole, clients are known to bounce around and give multiple agencies throughout the year business despite having contracts in place with agencies. The way the agencies will benefit from this changing workforce is simple, with a streamlined way of sourcing contractors they will have flexible human capital to work with as they will have a seamless way to promptly scale up and down as the business requires. By becoming less of a business that relies too heavily on the staff in house and becoming something that can morph to whatever they’re working on at the time to accomplish the given projects/campaigns, the quality of work across the board will be able to stay consistent and they will be able to employ the appropriate people and have the right people in place according to the budget.

People in the workforce today no longer value career and promotions as highly as they used to, they value autonomy and flexibility and would rather be able to choose locations where they work and go through more of a job rotation. According the Bureau of Labour Statistics, a typical 25 year old will only spend three years on the job while a 55 year old will spend 10 years on the job. Young people will generally choose a flexible schedule and remote work over an increase in their salary as the idea of lifelong employment with a company no longer applies.

Recognising these trends, we’re seeing more agencies offer opportunities to young people to go into developmental programs that allow young people to sign up for a pre-determined period of time to accomplish something significant for their career aspirations before they move on to something else. Contractors can find projects that will pay them well and find work that matches their specific skills. The time-frame for contractors change though, contractors will do shorter stints of work doing one to six month projects for multiple employers at any given time.

This is an on-demand industry, so the contracted workforce can work for multiple different companies in any given week; what this does is eliminates the traditional 9–5 work but creates the flexibility that young people desire in their careers. The downside of this type of work though is less job security which most overlook for the flexibility offered.

Contractors face their own problems though as they don’t have the same legal protection that traditional employees have, they’re more vulnerable as their wages can be suppressed. The level of protection is changing though and the void in this area is starting to be filled to support the growing class of contract workers. There are now unions in place for a contractor that offers insurances to support the needs of contractors. There are also websites that provides a community to help offer a better understanding of what wages contractors can expect to make. There are also tools that help contractors keep track of their financial records and keep the books in order. There are also digital communities setting up to help contractors who like to travel and offer support and advice on how to find work in other countries.

This mushrooming work force is now closing the ‘benefits gap’ between contract workers and traditional employees, where a contractor can get financial help, insurance and support from a community of other contractors. With these benefits of contract working this begs to ask the question, why would you choose traditional employment?

There are now multiple technology platforms that help contractors to get work from all around the world. Health insurances can be acquired, there are tools and communities in place to help contractors out and gain the most out of their finances which is why it is predicted that over 40% of the workforce will be contract workers in the next 5 years or so.

The consequences of this change of workforce in the industry will most probably cause a lot of discomfort and dislocation as all shifts of this nature do but in the long term as the dust begins to settle and this type of workforce is accepted and systems are cemented, a more dynamic industry will likely emerge.