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Waterfall Lifestyle
hoW The ‘GIG’ eCoNoMY
SUPPLeMeNTS JoB
CReATIoN IN SoUTh AfRICA
The ‘gig’ economy is reshaping
relationships between companies
and workers worldwide.
I ncreasingly, a free-market computers are not good at – work they may not be able to hire workers
that needs the human touch.
arrangement in which work is
on a full-time basis. Giggers move
temporary and short-term is
redefining the notion of a career Most trend analysts foresee a global from task to task, connected by an app
as a network enabler, to keep work
path. It’s not just Instagram influencers workforce that is largely independent ticking over wherever and whenever
who are eschewing traditional and makes use of technology to there is demand. Labour contracts
corporate ladders in favour of personal network and collaborate with other are as temporary as they need to be,
advancement – the gig economy giggers and temporary employers. The much like a freelance workflow.
looks set to become the norm in technology, usually in the form of third-
the global economy of tomorrow. party applications (apps) is really the In South Africa, the gig economy
key to providing scale for employers. has a long way to go in being
What is the gig economy? It is Companies and organisations can understood and fully utilised by the
essentially people completing make use of whatever level and corporate sector, but M4Jam is one
tasks and activities for companies quantity of expertise they need, such network enabler to be making
in roles that typically cannot as and when they need it. headway – already more than 220 000
be filled permanently because South Africans have signed up as gig
of cost constraints and cannot The gig economy already ‘employs’ workers or (M4Jam) jobbers, who are
be automated, in other words, millions of people worldwide, and available to solve business problems.
performing a gig. The gig economy takes advantage of companies’ ability
revolves around the jobs that to fund short-term requirements where “When we speak about gig work, in
36 Waterfall Issue 1 2020
