Gig Workers Eligible for PPP Loans
In the past, gig workers and self-employed sole proprietors – from tech support pros and field service technicians to actors and musicians – were usually left out of any government benefits. Of course, since Covid-19 began spreading around the globe, the way things were done in the past is often irrelevant. Groups like the Arts Action Fund, the lobbying branch of the nonprofit Americans for the Arts, were active in the efforts to successfully include these members of the contingent workforce in the CARES Act (the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act) last year. Specifically, gig workers were eligible …
A Little Tech Support for those Hiding Gifts
Are you one of the many who kept holiday gifts at the office, safe from prying eyes? Gig workers know where we are going with this. For those to whom working remotely is a new concept, the need to find a new place to safely stash gifts is just one more of the many challenges the pandemic has brought on. Fortunately, the folks at HGTV put their creative minds to the task of finding Genius Spots to Hide Gifts. Here are some of our favorite suggestions for all of you IT specialists and project management pros who are now working …
What Is Competitive Intelligence? Why Do Gig Workers Need to Know?
Many people have an idealized vision of the world of freelance and gig workers. They picture you lounging on the couch, sleeping in late, working when you feel like. If you are a freelance IT specialist or project management pro, you know that image doesn’t even come close to the truth. If anything, those who make up today’s contingent workforce must work harder than their counterparts in traditional employment positions. For example, in addition to providing top-notch tech support services, a gig worker must also be responsible for keeping the books, marketing, payroll and taking out the trash. And when …
WOOP It Up to Succeed as a Gig Worker
If you want to succeed as a gig worker, whether you are an IT specialist or a graphic designer, it is helpful to think of yourself as an entrepreneur. You need to stay motivated, set goals – financial or otherwise. How much do you need to pay your bills? What type of work would you like to specialize in? What type of clients would you most like to work with? If you could be doing anything you want, what would you be doing? What is stopping you? Those big dreams and how we attain them was the subject of a …
How Important Is Customer Service to IT Services?
The level of talent represented in today’s contingent workforce provides companies with a new way to deliver exceptional quality and service without overburdening the budget. When Gaetano DiNardi, the director of demand generation at Nextiva, responded to the question “How important is customer service to success in business?”, he identified a “strong positive relationship between customer service and business success, no matter how a company defines “’success.’” There is no one-size-fits-all template or magic formula, though. Some companies do well despite a reputation for terrible customer service, while others provide exceptional customer service and struggle to survive. “This positive correlation …
Effective Management of On-Demand Professionals
One of the advantages of using On-Demand Professionals is that you don’t need to worry about the complexities of W2 employee management. On the other hand, when dealing with someone you don’t personally know it can be difficult understand how to motivate them and ensure you’re getting their best work. Here are some strategies for overcoming that challenge. …
Why Join the Gig Economy: The Lure of Building a Portfolio Career
Very few people ever find their “dream job.” Most of us take the good with the bad, tolerating tasks we feel are wasteful, pointless, or simply beneath our skill level. This is why so many experts like you are choosing to join the ranks of the Gig Economy, becoming freelance on-demand professionals. Learn how to build your Portfolio Career and enjoy the advantages of the Gig Economy. …
Businesses Should Look to the Freelance Economy to Deliver Superior Field Service Outcomes
–NICK HEINZMAN with SPEND MATTERS Managing a modern-day field service function presents numerous challenges to business leaders. Consistently getting the right person for a service request to the right place at the right time has only become more difficult in today’s hyper-competitive, on-demand business environment. Because of this, field services spend, which often includes services essential to the functioning of a business (e.g., point-of-sale systems, security cameras), can easily fall victim to cost overruns, variable levels of work quality and external regulatory risks that can affect services outputs. To meet these challenges, businesses have increasingly looked to augment their current W-2 field …
Independent Workers Feeling More Secure
The 2018 MBO Partners State of Independence in America paints a nuanced picture of the 42 million Americans who work independently as independent professionals, contractors, consultants, freelancers, side giggers and more. In this eighth year of the report, the longest-running comprehensive look at the independent workforce, American independents emerge as strong, mature, and satisfied. Even amidst record low unemployment and the strongest jobs market in decades, independent work remains a viable and desirable career path. “People from all industries choose to become independent professionals,” says Gene Zaino, CEO of MBO Partners. “The key word here is ‘choose.'” With each passing …
‘The world is changing:’ Why the contingent workforce isn’t going away
Follow Kathryn Moody on Twitter HR professionals are commonly told to “do more with less. But if necessity is the mother of invention, disruption is the family member looming in the background holding a rolled up newspaper. Tightening resources, changing technologies and frustrated employees calling for more flexibility have forced HR professionals to find adaptable workforce solutions that fit a shifting model. “The world is changing,” Peter Sheahan told HR pros during yesterday’s keynote at WorldatWork’s Total Rewards Conference, citing a running theme for the first day’s sessions. And that change is driving related disruptions to HR strategy, he said. …
