Career gaps in Gig Economy

This is a real issue as the world moves to Gig economy where everyone from employers to workers are more comfortable in executing a gig and move on.Millennials are more comfortable with a discontinuous engagement /career track than others.

Latest is Amazon inviting freelancers with vehicles to work as delivery partners for their orders.

As this happens, there is more likely to be gaps between Gigs, some times many months as well.

while full time workers dont usually get time , trying to work more to prove their value and establish ' indispensability', the gig economy workers have the gaps which can cut both ways.

Here are two suggestions to make best use of the gaps between gigs.

1. Reskill, reskill and reskill - its best way to enhance your sale-ability and 'justify' the gaps to a recruiter. All large employers today face the challenge of retraining their work force to help them stay relevant. For gig workers, the gaps might be godsend to reskill themselves to get ready for the next gig better.

2.  Do Your Own Thing - go entrepreneurial!  Try something on your own and who knows, what started as a back of the napkin idea might become a business by itself. If it fails, you would have learnt valuable lessons that are so hard for any employer to train you on. As industries get disrputed, the entrepreneurial experience is an attribute that everyone values. It makes your profile more rounded and helps you stand apart!

Gone are the days when gaps in resumes are defended with reservations and fear. They are part of the new 'normal' and its up to you to make the best use of them to get ahead!

Simple trick to teach money to kids

Disclaimer: this idea is not mine. I learnt this from a friend of mine who did this to his kid.

Many parents struggle to help kids learn about money. Here is a very simple practical way to do it.

Based on the kids age etc, decide on the money you want to give at a periodicity. The amount and the frequency are not material.

The kid can do only THREE things with the money ( the only three things anyone can do) - spend, give,invest.

The kid can spend 1/3rd on anything he/she likes. The kid needs to give away 1/3rd to anyone in need. Another 1/3rd, the kid must invest. Put it in a bank or buy a share etc.

To get the next installment of money, the kid needs to explain what he/she did on the 2nd and third items.

It's that simple.

'Services only ' future

,Over the last few years most of the world's new wealth is going only to the small portion of the population. Is this simply the capitalists plundering the country's resources or is there something deeper?

1. If you look at the the richest individuals and the richest industries making the most money, you will see a pattern.

Most of them are services based ,almost none from agriculture and very few from manufacturing.

2. If you look at the industries needing  government help in the form of trade subsidies protectionism and bailouts, most of them are again in manufacturing and Agriculture.

When did you hear about services industry needing bailouts?

3. If you look at the US, world's largest economy , it's almost entirely based on services, with less than 2% coming in from agriculture. Just to put this in perspective ,agriculture was majority in the US few decades ago.

What are the above facts telling us? The world is moving towards service based economies while both manufacturing and agriculture do not seem to generate much differential wealth.

What are the implications of this? A service based economy is very much skill and expertise based. It also expects stakeholders to be very agile in adopting to the changing world.

while technology is automating quite a few services ,it is still services that are building incremental wealth.

How do the populations and communities build skills to be ready for a  Services based world?

How do they plan their finances to be continuously reskilling themselves every once in a while?

How do they become self dependent instead of expecting government doles and entitlements? ( No government or a tax base can perennially fund a losing business forever!)

How do they learn the key skills and attitudes of pivoting ,reskilling, migration and adapting?

How do they celebrate risk taking, failures , innovation and continuous learning?

These are the questions that I feel, the leaders, politicians and parents need to find answers to.