Dec. 26, 2016 "Employers need to prepare for a more fluid work force": Today I found this article by Harvey Schachter in the Globe and Mail:
One of the big trends you should consider in the new year is the change in how people want to work.
The talented people you’re seeking may not want to be part of a static, full-time staff but prefer to be on more fluid, on demand teams.
Consultant Lisa Hufford notes that we are approaching the point where 40 per cent to 50 per cent of the working population won’t be in full-time jobs and so firms that continue handling their work through a traditional staffing model will miss out on talent who prefer to be independent.
She has lived this trend herself: A decade ago, after 14 years working in big corporations, including Microsoft, she decided she wanted a different lifestyle that allowed her more control over her schedule to be with her young children and so set herself up in business.
“My story is not uncommon – it’s the story of many men and women,” she says. Many millennials view security not as working for a single employer but in having the control and freedom to concoct their own working arrangements. And many of the people who joined the freelance economy in desperation as corporations downsized are deciding not to return to traditional work forces when new opportunities arise.
“It’s a major talent shift for big corporations to get things done,” she says.
We now have to think of who the best people are to accomplish tasks and how best to mingle them. We will increasingly see project teams with some regular staff working alongside free agents assembled for this particular challenge.
In her book, Navigating the Talent Shift, she describes the type of free agents in the work force:
Independent contractors (36 per cent of the independent work force in the United States): These are traditional freelancers who don’t have an employer and take on freelance, temporary or supplemental assignments on a project-by-project basis.
Moonlighters (25 per cent): Individuals with a primary, traditional job with an employer, but who also moonlight doing freelance work. An example is a corporate-employed web developer who does projects for non-profits on nights.
Diversified workers (26 per cent): These people have multiple sources of income from a mix of traditional and freelance work. Somebody might work 20 hours a week at the front desk of a dentist’s office but also drive for Uber or write on a freelance basis.
Temporary workers (9 per cent): They have a single employer, client, job or contract where their employment status is temporary. An example would be a data-entry clerk who is placed by a staffing agency for three months in a company.
Freelance business owners (5 per cent): They have one or more employees and consider themselves both a freelancer and a business owner.
Independent contractors (36 per cent of the independent work force in the United States): These are traditional freelancers who don’t have an employer and take on freelance, temporary or supplemental assignments on a project-by-project basis.
Moonlighters (25 per cent): Individuals with a primary, traditional job with an employer, but who also moonlight doing freelance work. An example is a corporate-employed web developer who does projects for non-profits on nights.
Diversified workers (26 per cent): These people have multiple sources of income from a mix of traditional and freelance work. Somebody might work 20 hours a week at the front desk of a dentist’s office but also drive for Uber or write on a freelance basis.
Temporary workers (9 per cent): They have a single employer, client, job or contract where their employment status is temporary. An example would be a data-entry clerk who is placed by a staffing agency for three months in a company.
Freelance business owners (5 per cent): They have one or more employees and consider themselves both a freelancer and a business owner.
She finds companies considering a broader approach often mess up by rushing to put together a project team without considering carefully the success they seek.
What are the most important elements of the work that needs to be done?
Don’t just think of the final results but also your expectations for 30, 60 and 90 days so you understand the project rhythm and texture. “If you can identify that, you can then determine the skills you need for the role and find them,” she says.
Don’t just think of the final results but also your expectations for 30, 60 and 90 days so you understand the project rhythm and texture. “If you can identify that, you can then determine the skills you need for the role and find them,” she says.
From there, you must craft a project description specifying what the freelancer will do – the nitty-gritty of the assignment. Base your description on performance – the outcomes you expect – rather than the tasks the individual might undertake.
“You need to focus very specifically on what is expected to get done within a time frame,” she advises.
“You need to focus very specifically on what is expected to get done within a time frame,” she advises.
As you reach out to contenders, emphasize your company’s values since that might be a determining factor. “A millennial can do accounting or IT anywhere. Often they decide by the company’s values,” she says. And you should want people passionate about your industry.
You also want to clarify for them how much work is expected to be done on site and when, something companies often fail to delineate, creating friction down the road.
You also want to clarify for them how much work is expected to be done on site and when, something companies often fail to delineate, creating friction down the road.
Interviewing will be far more specific than when bringing on regular staff. Focus on what you need and how they did this work in the past.
Check cultural fit: Do they work best, for example, in startups or in large, bureaucratic organizations?
Check cultural fit: Do they work best, for example, in startups or in large, bureaucratic organizations?
Develop a statement of work with each person you bring on, describing the work to be done, the time line, and the invoicing schedule.
Will the freelancer bill half up front, monthly as work is completed or just at the end? Again, misperceptions here can reverberate later.
Will the freelancer bill half up front, monthly as work is completed or just at the end? Again, misperceptions here can reverberate later.
“You need to think about talent in a holistic way in the New Year. It’s not just FTEs. It’s any professional who can help your company succeed,” she concludes.
Cynical in Toronto
A silly column. Corporations WANT contractors. They are cheaper. Show me a "contractor" worth his/her salt, and I will show you a person who is anxious for full-time, regular hours, with benefits.
But that world is long gone. Bring on the TFW's! And hire them to tear down 24 Sussex!! Because most Canadians want 24 Sussex torn down ... and none of them want the job ... Eh?? (Pathetic. Sad. Depressing.)
Disposable people in a terrible country ....
Employers here were ahead of the curve by adopting part-time, permanent part-time, contract workers for the past decade or so and may be credited with creating the freelance workforce.
Good for seasonal businesses like motel staff at say a tourist destination during summer and not for serious businesses in for the long haul with significant intellectual property development.
Freelancers come and go and where will they be when there is a crisis in an enterprise that requires years of experience to analyze and solve ? This is another management trick for short term profit at the expense of long term loss.
Was recently in a situation were we were looking for particular skill sets, workers had mostly retired and were not willing to come back at above market contract rates.
Whenever you see an article listed as 'Special to the Globe' you know you are in for some first class garbage material and manipulation, only meant to benefit private or special interests. freelance in this case is all about employers trying to externalize more costs onto individuals and the public sector, it's all about employers lowering their own costs, increasing costs of living for everyone, and increasing public reliance on government support programs.
It's the same old abuse and manipulation of companies wanting to contribute less and less to society, and to employees, selfish companies are a net detriment and are unworthy of being part of society.
As members of the public we should all be vigilant and contact MPs, to make sure companies and others aren't discriminating against Canadians in favor of companies and special interests, with these kinds of abusive and unhealthy ideas.
Steven Forth 3 years ago
There is some truth to this, but perhaps not in the way you imagine. The government punishes freelancers and companies that employ them through discriminative tax policy. Example (one of many) compare the tax treatment of employees vs. contractors under SR&ED. The shift to a free workforce, where people can combine to form teams and work on multiples teams in parallel, will require new approaches to employment law, benefits, pensions and public goods in general. That is a debate we need to have.
Great article and absolutely on point. The world of work is changing rapidly. It's not about face time and how many hours you spend in a cubicle. As organizations increasingly become open to using freelancers, it'll become a true search for pure, raw talent. Not the kind of talent that knows how to say the right things in interviews. But the kind of talent that gets things done accurately, effectively and quickly!
"Employers need to prepare for shift..." Really? If, as most would say, "it's all about the bottom line," why haven't they already contracted freelancers? I was a "freelancer" for over 25 years. I understood these important employer benefits:
1. Overhead diminishes. No holiday pay, no CPP. And, it gets better...
2. Hire enough "external talent," the business space shrinks with fewer full-time staff; move to smaller--cheaper--commercial space.
3. Pay only for production. When freelancers take coffee breaks, lunch hours, "sick days", THEY pay for the time, their employers (clients) don't.
Employers often receive better performance, too; good freelancers ensure future work is by producing more...and better.
4. "Cream of the crop": In some cities, employers can access the very best talent the city has to offer.
5. Got a really good employee? Tell him/her full-time work is over. Kick start the process with a pink slip. I used many of these reasons in my own sales pitches...
"Clement, 45, landed his first job at 11 as a pin-setter in a bowling alley."
https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/celebrities/111384838/why-kiwi-actor-jemaine-clement-loves-the-spotlightand-being-in-the-shadows
My opinion: This is related to a job and how technology affects jobs. Before technology, there used to be people who actually have to work behind the bowling alley and put the pins up.
Now there are machines. The job/ task may be eliminated, but that does get humans to do something a bit more interesting.
Aug. 22, 2018 "Preparing the work force for jobs that don't yet exist": Today I found this article by Steven Murphy in the Globe and Mail:
President and vice-chancellor of the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Oshawa, Ont.
Technological disruption is changing the way we live and work, sometimes in ways we are barely conscious of.
Artificial intelligence, robotics and other emerging technologies will have a major impact on the job market, dramatically altering tasks that are performed by humans. McKinsey and Co. reports that “about 60 per cent of all occupations have at least 30 per cent of activities that are technically automatable. This means that most occupations will change, and more people will have to work with technology.”
On a global scale, the report predicts that automation could affect 50 per cent of the world economy.
On a global scale, the report predicts that automation could affect 50 per cent of the world economy.
The good news is that this digital transformation will also add new job opportunities to the economy. A white paper by Royal Bank of Canada reports that the Canadian economy is forecast to have 2.4 million job openings in the next three years.
But those jobs will be different from the existing ones as 50 per cent of jobs will undergo a skills overhaul.
But those jobs will be different from the existing ones as 50 per cent of jobs will undergo a skills overhaul.
How do we equip our workforce and university grads for jobs that don’t yet exist? How do we prepare them for a future about which nothing is certain but constant and rapid change?
FOCUS ON ‘HUMAN’ SKILLS
As more and more jobs become automated, human skills will become the game changer. The so-called soft skills of critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication, empathy and social perceptiveness, among others, are what makes humans unique in the age of automation.
In his book Robot-Proof, Joseph Aoun, president of Northeastern University in Boston, suggests we focus on what he calls “humanics” as the best way to gain a competitive advantage over machines.
In his book Robot-Proof, Joseph Aoun, president of Northeastern University in Boston, suggests we focus on what he calls “humanics” as the best way to gain a competitive advantage over machines.
ENCOURAGE COLLABORATION BETWEEN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR
Partnerships between higher education and industry, in the form of meaningful work-integrated-learning placements or summer jobs, not only provide enhanced experiential learning opportunities for students, but also catalyze innovation in the workplace as students bring a fresh perspective and mindset of risk-taking to tackling business problems. Co-operation between higher education and government is also critical.
The Teaching City initiative in Oshawa is a great example of university-community exchange, whereby the City of Oshawa has partnered with the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Trent University, University of Toronto and Durham College, turning the city into a living lab for facilitating applied research and exploring urban issues. And Digital Literacy Day in Toronto in May brought together the City of Toronto, academia and industry to put on educational events throughout the city to help the public update their digital skills.
UPSKILL WORKFORCE THROUGH LIFELONG LEARNING
The new economy requires the workforce to constantly re-skill to stay relevant and employable, which requires engaging in lifelong learning. The traditional model, in which people focus on their learning in their 20s then get a job, is becoming obsolete in the age of disruption. This creates a challenge for higher-education institutions to be creative in providing offerings focused on adult workers, at a time and pace that makes the most sense for the learner.
Much has been written about the future of work and its risks, but there are also tremendous opportunities.
All sectors of our economy will reward those who most quickly adapt and offer products and services in drastically altered, yet intuitive, ways. Take solace in knowing that those who are able to sharpen their human skills and adapt a new mindset of continuous learning and risk-taking will stay competitive in the automation age.
All sectors of our economy will reward those who most quickly adapt and offer products and services in drastically altered, yet intuitive, ways. Take solace in knowing that those who are able to sharpen their human skills and adapt a new mindset of continuous learning and risk-taking will stay competitive in the automation age.
Focus on human skills? Sure, it is always more pleasant and usually much more productive to deal with a programmer, or plumber, or auto mechanic, or hear-stylist that has good people skills.
But they first need to be good at those "hard-skills". Having good people skills but unable to solve the problem is not useful.
There may be many tasks that become automated, but the people working at the interface between that automation and people better have a firm understanding of what was automated, or they will just be pleasant to deal with but non-productive (frankly: useless).
Hard skill stills count but some will have less value. Telling students to focus on people skills is a cop-out. Train in some specific hard skill. It might get automated, which is why the life-time learning idea has much merit.
If you also have those people skills that's great, because they are infinitely portable, but you are not taking them anywhere without that hard skill.
"Automation will have significant impact on jobs, but don't fear the robots"/ "Companies shift from products to services"
"These five innovations will change our lives"/ "Librarians need to adapt to new role"
My week:
Sat. Jun. 27, 2020 "Food delivery service Foodora says it's closing in Canada on May 11": I was checking out some business news. This article was published on Apr. 27, 2020 and I'm reading this now:
Food delivery service Foodora says it will close down in Canada next month in a move that comes as a shock to the union that was trying to represent the company's workers.
The company delivers cooked meals from restaurants to customers who order them on a smartphone app, taking a cut of the sale. It competes in Canada with services such as DoorDash, UberEats and SkipTheDishes.
Foodora is a subsidiary of German company Delivery Hero, which runs various food delivery services in 44 countries around the world.
Foodora launched in Canada in 2015. At last count, Foodora operated in 10 cities across Canada and had more than 3,000 restaurants on its menu, but the company said it isn't making enough money in Canada to stay open and will close on May 11.
Here's an excerpt from the article:
When a group of schoolboys were marooned on an island in 1965, it turned out very differently from William Golding’s bestseller, writes Rutger Bregman
But Peter noticed something odd. Peering through his binoculars, he saw burned patches on the green cliffs. “In the tropics it’s unusual for fires to start spontaneously,” he told us, a half century later. Then he saw a boy. Naked. Hair down to his shoulders. This wild creature leaped from the cliffside and plunged into the water. Suddenly more boys followed, screaming at the top of their lungs. It didn’t take long for the first boy to reach the boat. “My name is Stephen,” he cried in perfect English. “There are six of us and we reckon we’ve been here 15 months.”
The boys, once aboard, claimed they were students at a boarding school in Nuku‘alofa, the Tongan capital. Sick of school meals, they had decided to take a fishing boat out one day, only to get caught in a storm. Likely story, Peter thought. Using his two-way radio, he called in to Nuku‘alofa. “I’ve got six kids here,” he told the operator. “Stand by,” came the response. Twenty minutes ticked by. (As Peter tells this part of the story, he gets a little misty-eyed.) Finally, a very tearful operator came on the radio, and said: “You found them! These boys have been given up for dead. Funerals have been held. If it’s them, this is a miracle!”
My opinion: I posted this on my Facebook page and Facebook message some of my friends. My friend Cham really liked it by saying "Great article."
I was 16 yrs old when I saw the movie. I did a little research and the lead Ralph was played by Balthazar Getty who I watched in the TV show Pasadena that came out that yr in 2001-2002.
As a teen, I thought the movie was good with the acting and writing. However, it was kind of depressing and I wouldn't watch this again.
Also as a teen, I was like: "So that's what The Simpsons were making fun of when the kids were stranded on the island":
"Das Bus" is the fourteenth episode of The Simpsons' ninth season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 15, 1998.[2] In an extended parody of Lord of the Flies, Bart, Lisa, and other students from Springfield Elementary School are stranded on an island and are forced to work together. Meanwhile, Homer founds his own Internet company. It was written by David X. Cohen and directed by Pete Michels. Guest star James Earl Jones narrates the final scene of the episode.[1]
This is the first part of the ep. Cut to the kids' UN meeting: 2:29- 2:35 sec. Martin was Finland and he is dancing:
"'A victory for our Black communities': 4 best friends in Calgary all get into med school":
Four Black best friends who met at the University of Calgary not only graduated together this year — each of them were also accepted into medical school.
"For me, this isn't just my victory and this isn't just a victory for the four of us, this is a victory for our Black communities as a whole," said Nicole M'Carthy, valedictorian for the Class of 2020 Bachelor of Health Sciences program.
M'Carthy will head to University of Toronto where she will be one of 24 Black students in the faculty of medicine for the class of 2024. It is the largest group in Canadian history. Just four years prior, there was only one Black person in a class of 259 medical students.
Whitney Ereyi-Osas and Elizabeth Dayo will be two out of four Black medical students at the University of Calgary, and Ruth Legese will be one of three Black students at the University of Alberta medical school.
The four friends met through the University of Calgary health sciences program and have been close ever since.
The four women are also planning to launch their own YouTube channel this summer called Black Girls MD.
My opinion: That's some positive news.
The Body Shop Work from Home: I found this on Kijiji and it lead me to join this private Facebook group. It is the Body Shop at Home Independent Consultant. The job is to sell the products.
However, there is a pause. and due to the COVID- 19, we can't sell the products yet.
Do you think is a scam? I don't think it is, but you can check it out:
Work from home job search: I went on Indeed and LinkedIn. I have never really went on LinkedIn to look for a job, it was mainly to make connections with old college classmates, co-workers, and TV production workers.
Lewis Howes and Shanda Sumpter: I was watching Sumpter's videos about online entrepreneur business and she interviews Lew Howes.
Jul. 1, 2020 "He quit his job- but the offer was a scam": Here is a story about Tony Monize who thought he got a job and it was a total scam. In fact, it was near identical to what happened to me back in Jul. 2017 when I got caught up in job scam and almost lost $4000:
My experience with the Southgate Construction scam:
Jul. 2, 2020 "Lili Reinhart Apologizes For Her Sideboob Photo Demanding Justice For Breonna Taylor":
Service Canada- working remotely:
Reinvent Yourself: Unleash your Creativity: I found this free college course and I'm auditing it. I just want to try it out. I like it so far because it's like psychology.
I may be able to use it in my job, job search, and life. I have usually used my creativity and imagination for my script writing. Now I will use this more in work and life.
The saying: "If you want to get something different, then you have to do something different."
There are lots of courses you can learn.
However, there is a pause. and due to the COVID- 19, we can't sell the products yet.
Do you think is a scam? I don't think it is, but you can check it out:
Tues. Jun. 30, 2020: My little brother P said he went to City Centre mall, and he saw workers closing down the Body Shop.
"How To De-Escalate A Mental Health Emergency Without Calling The Police":
Respect what they’re going through
Don’t get hung-up on saying the right thing to comfort them, but do make sure you aren’t saying anything invalidating, Haughton said.
“People become agitated because people are not listening to them,” he said. For example, if someone hallucinates, hears voices, or believes delusions, refuting what they experience can escalate the situation. “What works for me and what I’ve been taught is to listen and provide space for the person. What they’re experiencing is very authentic to them at that moment.”
Phrases like “I can’t see them but I know you can,” which the Connecticut Mental Health Center suggests, can be useful, unlike invalidating statements like “That’s not real.”
Lewis Howes and Shanda Sumpter: I was watching Sumpter's videos about online entrepreneur business and she interviews Lew Howes.
This is about toxic masculinity. 15 min. in they talk about sexual abuse. Howes mentions how he was raped by a man when he was 5. This kind of reminded me like I was watching an Oprah episode when she covers these topics. He was promoting his book:
But within 24 hours, he discovered the new job offer was part of a scam.
On Tuesday, Monize was asked to send almost $4,000 to another company to pay for home office equipment. He agreed to e-transfer the funds, because he'd received a cheque with the Sobeys logo to cover the cost.
Then his bank called.
"They said, just so you know, we looked at those email addresses where you're sending money. They're on the blacklist. It's fraud.'"
And the cheque he'd received? It was counterfeit.
My experience with the Southgate Construction scam:
Lili Reinhart has apologized for posting a photograph of herself topless in a misguided attempt to demand justice for Breonna Taylor.
The 23-year-old actor tweeted on Tuesday that she was sorry for offending people with the now-deleted Instagram post.
“I’ve always tried to use my platform for good. And speak up about things that are important to me,” she wrote in one tweet, emphasizing that she had “good intentions. “I also can admit when I make a mistake and I made a mistake with my caption. It was never my intent to insult anyone and I’m truly sorry to those that were offended.”
The “Riverdale” star’s apology comes after she shared a photograph of herself barefaced and seemingly bare-naked on her Instagram on Monday, alongside the caption: “Now that my sideboob has gotten your attention, Breonna Taylor’s murderers have not been arrested. Demand justice.”
Taylor was a 26-year-old Black woman in Kentucky who was fatally shot on March 13 in her own home by police officers. None of the Louisville cops who were involved in her death have been arrested or charged, which has prompted a widespread call for justice from supporters of racial equality in the United States.
After Reinhart posted her photo, many people on social media lambasted her for turning Taylor’s death into a meme, calling the image “gross,” a “marketing tactic” and “the wrong type of attention.”
2 days ago
People crave a reason to be mad more than a reason to be happy nowadays.
2 days ago
Shaming folks who have NO hate in their hearts and are trying to do what they can to help the cause is counterproductive.
My opinion: I saw that as a totally good intention as a way to get Breonna Taylor justice. I'm sure some people took it the wrong way. I was not offended. I accept her apology because it seems sincere.
I may be able to use it in my job, job search, and life. I have usually used my creativity and imagination for my script writing. Now I will use this more in work and life.
The saying: "If you want to get something different, then you have to do something different."
There are lots of courses you can learn.
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