Professional services - what the gig economy means for the white-collar freelancer

Changing attitudes, technological advancements and shifting client demands are seeing more professionals join a free agent nation than ever before.

Wading through office politics to get your job done? Lost the meaning of your work? Alarmed by the ethics of a client? If this sounds familiar, you might consider cutting your ties and going solo.

Flexible work is one of the biggest drivers of the transformation of business models, according to a 2016 World Economic Forum report. In 2016, research by the European Forum of Independent Professionals showed the number of freelance workers in Europe had increased by 45% in just three years. As borderless teams, co-working spaces and freelancing are on the rise, the lines between corporate and gig life are becoming blurred.

Recent headlines have centred on digital platforms such as Airbnb, Uber and Upwork and the low-end gigs they offer. But the demands of corporate life – such as the mantra “do more faster with less” – are making meaningful, short-term projects more attractive for experts working in professional services. The industry provides a case in point for the changing nature of work. London Business School’s (LBS) Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship event on professional services and the gig economy demonstrated that what constitutes work is changing by the day.

There are many sides to this story, but there are three core engines:

1 The independently minded– the specialists taking on independent work, why they do it and whether they are happy with their careers

2 The connectors – the innovative platforms at the intersection of clients and high-end freelancers, providing talented people with meaningful work 

3 The clients – the open-minded firms tapping an open talent market.

Severing the corporate umbilical cord