Good work in the gig economy — recap of the London WorkerTech meetup
Looking at the impact of intelligent technologies on the future of work, research company Forrester predicts that 24.7 million jobs will be displaced by 2027. However the situation isn’t as bleak as it initially seems. Research from our recently announced partner Accenture UK suggests that by 2022 intelligent technologies could in fact grow employment by 10%.
This newly formed partnership between ourselves and Accenture UK is intended to find and support ventures that are developing tech to create a fairer future of work, especially for those on low incomes. While we’re acutely aware of the many ways in which technology is affecting the landscape of work, this partnership is designed to be a positive, proactive, solution orientated one, which manifested this week in our first WorkerTech event.
“The WorkerTech series is a wider call to action to find solutions of how technology can work for precarious workers.”
Linda Wickstrom
Kicking the series off in London, we focused on the topic of good work in the gig economy. Introducing the evening of talks, Linda Wickstrom from Accenture UK emphasised that the WorkerTech series is ‘a wider call to action to find solutions of how technology can work for precarious workers.’ Without the various statutory benefits of employment such as sick pay, health insurance or pension plans, it could certainly be said that gig workers may find themselves in a precarious position.
Anna Maybank co-founder of new group messaging tool Poplar drew on the months she spent researching, prototyping and speaking with front line workers and their employers (which has been documented by the Poplar team here) to speak about her first hand understanding of the issues being faced. Interestingly, yet perhaps unsurprisingly, flexible work is often a misnomer, with benefits heavily weighing in favour of the employer rather than the employee. This is one of the four problem areas of the front line worker experience that Poplar is aiming to solve. By incorporating easy communication for shift swapping in to their platform, they are helping to ensure employees can also access the benefits of flexible working.
Meanwhile Trezeo, an income smoothing service, recognised the financial peril to workers of irregular job demand. The startup’s risk manager Sabyasachi Mukherjee spoke about the shortage of financial tools which support the rapidly increasing freelance population, despite this type of employment continuing to grow year on year. However by understanding a gig worker’s average earnings, their tool is able to provide a guaranteed weekly income, negating financial volatility these workers can often face.
Also recognising the rise in freelancing, Kayleigh Walsh a member of co-operatives Outlandish and CoTech, championed the benefits of the worker co-op model. While being self employed has it’s advantages, lack of community can be one of the downsides of not being part of a regular team. However, as Kayleigh explained ‘co-ops can prove to be a highly valuable support network for freelancers, facilitating learning and skill sharing.’ Proposing co-ops as a solution that can offer the best of both worlds, Kayleigh spoke about Outlandish as an example of this, where it’s the workers who define their level of involvement with the business, they can either choose to remain a freelancer or to become a member.
“Humans are actually going to become more important, not less. For a lot of front line jobs, being human is part of the service that’s being delivered.”
Anna Maybank
While it’s clear the world of work is currently going through a seismic shift, and whether it is for better or worse remains to be seen, it is vital we ensure the most vulnerable workers aren’t left behind. It is also worth considering, as Anna from Poplar noted ‘humans are actually going to become more important, not less. For a lot of front line jobs, being human is part of the service that’s being delivered.’
With this in mind, and with companies such as Poplar, Trezeo and Outlandish leading the way, there proves to be a great deal of opportunity to be part of the solution by building companies and tools to protect and empower precarious workers. So moving forward, we think the better question to be discussing isn’t will technology destroy job opportunities, but how can technology help evolve job opportunities.
BGV, in partnership with Accenture UK and Resolution Trust, is dedicated to finding and supporting ventures whose mission this is. If you have a WorkerTech venture or project then please don’t hesitate to reach out to us to see how we can support you in creating a fairer future of work, for all.
To keep up to date and involved with all things WorkerTech, be sure to check out our meetup page here: meetup.com/WorkerTech
Thanks to all our speakers and those who attended our first event ‘good work in the gig economy’ and we look forward to the next two to come! Details of those below:
Bristol, 20 November, Sparck: Worker voice and empowerment — unions and organising in the digital age
Manchester, 28 November, 6.30–9.30pm, The Federation: Skilling the future workforce — preparing workers for the jobs of the future
Watch the video stream of our event and lastly, see the community shout outs of the night here.
