It’s a new year and time to look ahead. As someone who leads a HR-focused software company and bridges living in both rural and urban areas I’m constantly evaluating how the emerging trend toward remote work and freelancing can benefit suburban and rural areas such as Grass Valley and Nevada City. What Forbes indicates in its 2017 predictions is that the shift toward contingent workforces will continue to parallel the rise of data systems that allow our workforces to be ever more distributed and managed more efficiency than legacy monolithic organizing. Here’s the wrap-up.
5 Predictions For The Freelance Economy In 2017.
Forbes 2016 predictions for the freelancer economy parallel what I’ve experienced in the HR marketplace I work in. Their predictions included: no new regulations, the convergence of all HRMIS begins, the emergence mobile workforce, the beginning of the demise or consolidation of talent specific or “pure” marketplace, and the enterprise finally embraces on-demand. It is quite logical that large enterprise companies start to think of their talent in the same way as it has seen information technology; as something to plug-in on demand and source wherever that talent comes from. That’s good news for smaller areas like Grass Valley with more talent than local opportunity.
Their predictions for 2017 seem to mostly parallel 2016 ending with “The corporate freelance tidal wave begins.” So, seeing Forbes reinforce it’s 2016 predictions indicates confidence in not only where they think the workforce opportunity is; but also Forbes itself could be seen as signaling to organizations that it’s time to jump on board this trend.
5 of the Fastest-Growing Remote Career Categories
This report from digital marketplace, Flexjobs, analyzed over 100,000 listings from 2016 and found the following growth areas for remote jobs: Mortgage and Real Estate, HR and Recruiting, Accounting and Finance, Pharmaceuticals, Education and Training. This is fantastic news for areas rich in talent, yet poor in opportunity, because it indicates an expanding opportunity for middle and higher skilled jobs in traditionally “non-tech” industries to be performed remotely.
