The changing landscape of doing business
COVID-19 has changed many things about our personal and professional lives. One major area of change is how we work and do business. Throughout the past year, we have had to learn to become quickly adaptable to ever-changing government restrictions, sick family and colleagues, and the struggles with managing homeschooling children.
What has been noticeable as we start to “open up” over the next months is the quick return to old school thinking when it comes to doing business. That is hiring full-time, salaried employees.
With globalization and remote work now the norm, having a dedicated in-house staff can be expensive and inflexible, especially for small businesses. But I see so many postings for traditional style work arrangements in this very unique economy we find ourselves.
Yes, I am a consultant so I am more aware of this trend as even the role of consultants has changed through this past year. I am just putting it out there that full-time staff are not required for the majority of positions in 2021. Yes, I said it.
I have had several conversations with businesses in both the private and non-profit sectors in the past few weeks and all are looking to hire staff to work remotely. While workers are asking for flexibility with work hours and more control over their schedules, it appears businesses are falling back to the 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. structure. Even remotely, which seems strange.
Recently, I was offered marketing projects with two separate organizations, which is great for me as a consultant. However, both refused to be invoiced; they wanted the role to be an employee. Is it a control issue or just a lack of understanding of the “new economy?”
This isn’t intended as a “us vs. them” scenario pitting consultants against employees, I am just trying to navigate the landscape with everyone else. I feel that supporting other small business owners by hiring consultants and freelancers provides less stress to businesses during this time. The business saves money by not having to provide benefits and vacation while allowing many micro-businesses to continue their dream of working for themselves.
It’s time to have a conversation about the future of business and how the traditional employee/employer relationship may be changed forever. This can of worms I have opened clearly won’t be solved in a week, or even a year but we need to support different “job” styles and think outside the box in how to run businesses.