The success of companies like Uber can be attributed to one factor: independent contractors. A business model built around the sharing economy, it’s brought about a boom of cash flow in niche markets. But with new territory comes new challenges, and already these industries are feeling the heat for their approach to labor management. Continue reading… “1099 or W-2? Uber, changing the way we think of transit”
The number of clearances rose in 2011 by about 3% to 4.86 million.
As of October 1, 2011 a new reported record of 4.8 million people held security clearances for access to classified information, according to a new intelligence community report to Congress.
Continue reading… “Number of people with U.S. government security clearances tops 4.8 million”
Freelance workers already make up 20% of the labor force, a figure that will rise to 25% as early as next year.
Lancaster Advertising in Lewisville, Texas, used to have 15 employees, two office buildings and a loss on its balance sheet. Today, the firm has no staff, no buildings and a healthy profit. Owner Ken Lancaster draws from more than 100 freelancers worldwide and works from his house, his boat or coffee shops.
We will miss the workplace when it’s gone
By the end of the month, a company called txteagle will be the largest employer in Kenya. The firm, started in its original form in 2008 by a young computer engineer named Nathan Eagle and, as of this coming June, based in Boston, will have 10,000 people working for it in Kenya. Txteagle does not rent office space for these workers, nor do the company’s officers interview them, or ever talk to most of them.
Continue reading… “The Future of Work”
In the coming year’s military spending bill, members of a House panel continue to steer lucrative defense contracts to companies represented by their former staffers, who in turn steer generous campaign donations to those lawmakers, a new analysis has found.
Flexible work force
The American work force is headed in ways unimagined just a decade ago. Careers are out and skill sets are in. Workers should think in terms of being contractors instead of employees, academics and futurists say.
Continue reading… “The Future of the American Work Force”
The federal government needs to hire more than 270,000 workers for “mission-critical” jobs over the next three years, a surge prompted in part by the large number of baby-boomer federal workers reaching retirement age, according to the results of a government-wide survey being released Thursday.
Continue reading… “Federal Government Needs To Hire More Than 270,000 Workers”
We’ve seen Dynamic Towers, the planned condo skyscraper in Dubai where every floor rotates independently. But according to The Economist, this Jetsons-esque way of living could become the next big thing in luxury housing.
Continue reading… “Rotating Homes Becoming A Luxury Trend”
