The Expert Economy – and Why Companies are Embracing It

The deep digital transformation across all industries has led to strong demand for expert talent. From small businesses to startups and even large companies, freelance experts provide a remarkable potential of outdoing the competition. That is because the fast-growing gig economy allows companies to get the best talent exactly when they need it, in an environment they trust, while creating a more robust culture of efficiency and performance.

There is no clear line between work and gigs as the business model of capitalising on online talent platforms continues to grow. Several studies show that nearly half of the future workforce will comprise of independent freelancers and contractors.

The Appeal of the Gig Economy
It is easy to understand how society has accepted the expert economy. It’s win-win: on one hand, experts love the freedom of controlling their workflows, the clients they work with, and from where they work, and on the other hand, clients are able to gain access to flexible teams, specific niche expertise, the ability to obtain valuable knowledge without hiring a new employee on a permanent basis, and the flexibility and capability of scaling work either up or down depending on current business needs.

Also, it allows both experts and companies to connect – no matter where they are in the world – and the roadblocks that once hindered remote tasks have significantly been eliminated, and even as early as 2018 up to 70% of workers around the globe were already working remotely at least one day every week.

More Inclusive and Lenient Remote Working Policies
As companies have been increasingly accepting of the high-end gig economy, they are also transforming their remote working policies. Nearly half of HR managers say that their organisation’s remote-working system has undergone significant changes over the last few years, with 60% saying that it is much more inclusive and lenient. Findings also show that agile project models with flexible and expert talent strategies will continue to drive even more companies to embrace independent expert freelancers.

Moving away from the Conventional Career Model
The once famous and highly coveted career ladder is no longer that attractive in many businesses. That traditional model meant you had to stick to one organisation for years and slowly climb through the ranks. Today, flexible projects and the ability to have several income streams have made experts highly unlikely to stick to one employer and it means that employers now have a better opportunity to access on-demand expert talent.  Experts today are looking for more challenges and mental stimulation in their work, which is helping businesses to stay competitive.

Meeting Experts Online
It is said that in five years, every person will be connected online through artificial intelligence, and one primary reason why companies are turning to online talent platforms to source and secure experts is that networks like LinkedIn offer a never-ending list of possibilities for the business to carefully select the candidate with the precise expertise needed.

One stumbling block for businesses is finding online talent platforms they can trust and rely on. Even as the gig economy becomes more widely accepted globally, it is worth noting that many platforms don’t vet their independent contractors, which means that businesses still have to comb through the never-ending list of possibilities, reviewing proposals, endorsements, and ratings from other clients. Fortunately, with LEXITUP, you can rest assured that you will get a high performing, proven expert who has already undergone the necessary vetting and can be relied upon to deliver high-quality results.

Cost Considerations
A common misconception about the gig economy is that it is a cost-saving option. While it is true that businesses can save between 20 to 30% on all other costs associated with hiring, companies shouldn’t expect lower rates when dealing with more highly skilled professionals, and may even find that they are more expensive per project or hour compared to a full-time employee. However they do offer the knowledge that a business requires that could ultimately save them millions. Plus, freelancers can be hired when, and for however long they are required.

High Quality Work
Despite most experts working remotely, a large percentage of HR managers have historically said that they were always confident of the quality of the work of an expert. Some HR professionals even said that freelancers were much easier to deal with compared to full-time personnel, as they offer the advantage of extensive experience working at a high level with many different companies and have learned different ways of tackling issues, which infuses new ideas to future projects and brings increased innovation and better results for the company.

Enhanced Scalability with a Targeted Expert Workforce
Today, startups and businesses are much cheaper to create and build thanks to the on-demand expert economy. Depending on specific project requirements, contract mentors, board directors, senior executives, legal and business consulting professionals can be quickly hired to offer their expertise. Companies can now get more specialised and targeted skills in a short time on online talent platforms such as LEXITUP, and avoid the lengthy and cumbersome investment of money and time it may take to develop such skills internally.

Reduced Biases and Increased Diversity
As companies continue to embrace the expert economy, it may help in contributing to solving the issue of the gender wage gap. That is because when companies hire specialists, they choose the best expert for their project and biases do not play any role when it comes to labour price. The knowledge-based economy also benefits companies by adding to the thoughtfulness and diversity with which projects or tasks are approached, as experienced freelancers bring fresh perspectives to revitalise projects and expand their capabilities based on their history of seeing how different organisations tackle similar issues.

Companies that will thrive in the future are those that can fully embrace the modern gig economy. However, this doesn’t mean replacing your fulltime employees with only remote freelance experts. Instead, it’s all about embracing the future and creating a knowledgeable and robust mixed team. Welcoming new ways of thinking and engaging high-level freelance experts in a mixed model means that companies can achieve much more, a lot faster.