Global gig economy creates on-the-go gig workers

PART of the motivation to join the gig economy is the fact that it brings a lot of freedom to workers, allowing them to better plan and manage their lives, and travel the world.

According to a new survey by Wakefield Research, the on-demand gig economy is creating on-the-go gig workers, who are willing to relocate to other countries for the right contract job.

In fact, 83 percent of gig workers in the UK, US, and Singapore are interested in relocating to another country for a contract job.

According to Bill Graebel, SGMS, chairman and CEO of Graebel:

The survey tells us that companies must focus on worker well-being and relocation support in order to hire the best gig workers, provide exceptional experiences, and make them feel more at home in their new country. As more workers increasingly seek and choose contract jobs, this will go a long way toward giving companies a competitive advantage in our dynamic gig economy.

To attract world-class gig talent, companies need to offer benefits and support to make the relocation feasible. The top three benefits gig workers said they want employers to offer are:

• Paid time off (94 percent), which seems especially important since contractors would move away from friends and family
• Relocation cost and/or financial support for moving expenses (93 percent), and
• Repatriation assistance (93 percent) to help workers move back home after their contract is completed

According to the survey, the top three concerns for gig workers taking an international contract job are:

• Lack of nearby friends and family (50 percent)
• Complexity of navigating immigration processes (46 percent), and
• Lack of work-life balance (45 percent).

However, important professional advantages and motivations in relocating to another country include enhancing qualifications (43 percent), expanding personal and professional networks (39 percent), and helping overcome a challenge by learning to live in different environments (38 percent).

Wakefield, who surveyed 600 gig workers across the three geographies, found that the global trend toward contract work is shifting the boundaries – literally – on the permanent, full-time employment norm, with predictions that more than half of the global workforce will be contract or gig workers in the near future.

All of the gig workers surveyed expressed similar motivations and expectations for relocating internationally, providing global companies with insights on how to court and cater to this new generation of workers.

 

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