How Trust and Partnership are Key in the Gig Economy

Tony Sorensen

October 29, 2020

The gig economy refers to a labor market where there are more short-term contractors than permanent employees. In recent years, there’s been a trend towards a gig economy, and it’s a trend that will continue to rise to prevalence. 

A study by Intuit has forecasted that by 2020, 40% of American workers would be independent contractors. The impact of the coronavirus pandemic has exploded these trends and forecasts. 

The gig economy, which was already booming with workers looking for freelance work before the pandemic, is now at risk of becoming overcrowded.

With a gig economy that is continuously evolving, the individual and group commitment must be a greater focus as we move at a rapid pace with “new” types of teams. 

This paradigm that needs to evolve is that trust and partnership are not mutually exclusive with short-term engagements. Obviously, most parties operating in a gig economy understand the why, the how, and the result of this growing portion of the workforce. 

The gig workforce still needs to value the same pillars that traditional workforces follow, including partnership, loyalty, trust, and a mutual desire to succeed, especially now as an increasing number of businesses are offloading work to gig workers to cope with the financial hardships of the pandemic.

When a full-time employee is hired, both sides have built-in trust that allows people to start from a more trusting space. This is a space where all employment types should begin regardless of contract, full-time, or freelance. By starting with trust, we can let time judge how we succeed or fail due to bad intentions or lack of trust. This is not just an employer and an employee/consultant issue, it is both. Both parties need to buy into a common goal regardless of the type and length of an assignment.

Trust is a must, and failure is not an option. We all know employees who are not bought-in and consultants who are completely bought-in and vice versa. We need to be able to change the narrative, so all workers have a handle on where people stand and can work in partnership.

By starting a working relationship with trust and by entering into a partnership, the gig economy can transition smoothly into the rest of the workforce.

“If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.”

– Henry Ford

For more insights on the gig economy, be sure to check out our video series called GigaBite that explores all things gig economy.