Navigating the gig economy: Opportunities and challenges for coaches
The gig economy is not just a buzzword used to describe Uber drivers and freelancers. It is a global trend driving the sharing economy. Gigging is altering how we interact with products and services, sparking innovative business models, and reshaping the future of work, and even coaching. Gig work is on the rise, with estimates indicating that anywhere from one in six workers, or 16–27% of workers are currently part of the gig workforce.
Explore the transformative impact of the gig economy as we delve into the implications of this trend on the coaching profession.
Navigating the gig economy: Opportunities and challenges for coaches
Share your take1. Mega-trend driving the gig economy
2. Benefits and challenges of the gig economy
3. Coaches’ role in the gig economy
4. Learn more about the gig economy and the future of coaching
What is the gig economy?
Definition source: Investopedia
Impact of the Gig Economy sources:
1 https://teamstage.io/gig-economy-statistics/
2 https://www.clearvoice.com/resources/gig-economy-future-2024/
3 https://finmasters.com/gig-economy-statistics/#gref
4 https://www.gigeconomydata.org/basics/what-are-experiences-gig-workers
5 https://www.brookings.edu/articles/to-enhance-community-services-and-empower-workers-local-governments-are-building-their-own-gig-work-platforms/
The gig economy and coaching business models
Just as the gig economy has introduced various business models to reshape industries, coaches can adapt these models to tailor their coaching practices.
Diverse Coaching Business Models
On-Demand Business Model. The on-demand business model meets consumer desires for immediate solutions, boosting revenue with an omnichannel presence, real-time delivery, and convenience through seamless technology through a fee-for-service approach.
Smart Technology Models. Smart technology and digital business models enable personalization and data-driven engagement with clients, often connecting through digital platforms for service delivery. Consider how you might integrate this into your own coaching practice through the bundling model, blended online packages, or subscription models.
Learn more about how these specific business models support innovating your coaching practices in today’s disrupted marketplace.
1. Mega-trend driving the gig economy
Globally, we are transitioning through another historical human experience evolution, from Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0. The gig economy is at the forefront of this transformation, redefining our approach to work, careers, and the rhythms of our daily lives. In Industry 4.0, digital technology integration ushered in automation, IoT-enabled devices, and AI decision-making, enhancing efficiency and productivity. The next phase, Industry 5.0 emphasizes human-machine collaboration, well-being, and empowerment, creating new work opportunities.
Personalization and Well-being in Industry 5.0
A primary focus of Industry 5.0 is a hyper-personalized focus on employee well-being, making coaching essential for individuals, leaders, and organizational culture. Coaches can assist clients in navigating the complex interplay between advanced technologies and human dynamics, ensuring that well-being, empowerment, and collaboration remain central to workplace strategies.
Coaching in the Age of Industry 5.0
Industry 5.0’s emphasis on human-machine collaboration and the reintegration of humans into industrial processes requires new skills. Coaches are pivotal in helping individuals develop the necessary skills to thrive in this new era, fostering adaptability and resilience within a technologically enriched work environment.
Explore the future with the ICF Thought Leadership Institute’s STEERE framework.
The gig economy is integral to the future of work. How did we get here? And what might we expect next? Analyzing trends through a futurist framework provides a holistic perspective to dissect the possible futures we may see from the gig economy. The TLI-adapted STEERE framework reveals a trend’s social, cultural, technological, economic, ecological, regulatory, and ethical impacts. This tool is a way to assess the benefits and challenges associated with emerging trends.
Social Impacts
Social forces, including post-COVID experiences, reshaped our work values, including where and how we work.
- Gig workers relish newfound flexibility and autonomy, particularly younger individuals seeking freedom and career independence.
- Workforce mobility is rising as digital platforms enable collaboration worldwide through distributed workforces.
- The stigma surrounding non-traditional work models is dissipating as gig work is integrated into the contemporary labor landscape.
Technology Impacts
Technology is the driving force behind the gig economy’s transformation and innovation.
- Digital platforms connect gig workers with more opportunities and ensure efficient employment experiences.
- Automation, IoT, connectivity, big data analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI) power the gig economy, and the innovation curve is accelerating.
- Technology is revolutionizing task-focused work, propelling the gig economy into an Industry 5.0 future of human-machine collaboration and innovation.
Economic Forces
The gig economy ushered in a transformation of the conventional employer-employee dynamic.
- The gig economy facilitates matchmaking and streamlines the search for suitable talent for specific tasks or projects.
- Employers can tap into a flexible workforce to respond to demand fluctuations and decrease the financial burden of full-time staff.
- Gig workers help meet the growing demand for round-the-clock services.
- Gig-based services often offer cost-effective alternatives to traditional business models, delivering value and savings to consumers seeking unique and efficient solutions.
Ecological Effects
Both positive and negative ecological implications highlight the need for balanced environmental strategies.
- The gig economy is contributing to a sustainable green work model.
- There is heightened consumption of electronics and vehicles, a negative pattern.
- The gig economy presents an opportunity for more environmentally sustainable businesses and fueling a culture of eco-conscious workers.
Regulatory Needs
Policymakers must consider extending social protections to this growing segment of the workforce.
- Exponential growth in the gig economy has catalyzed governments to confront regulatory complexities.
- Regulatory discussions have centered on issues of worker classification and benefits.
- Gig workers lack access to social safety nets like unemployment benefits or disability insurance.
Ethical Impacts
The gig economy is reshaping contemporary labor practices and norms.
- The absence of comprehensive market rules accompanies the gig economy’s rapid emergence.
- Gig platforms introduced significant mechanisms of algorithmic control and managerial oversight, influencing gig workers’ autonomy and decision-making.
- Gig workers are commonly excluded from the labor law protections, safety protections, and other benefits typically extended to traditional employees.
2. Benefits and challenges of the gig economy
In the gig economy, we witness the democratization of work and place, allowing more individuals to participate on their terms. It sparks the potential for community-based connections and collaboration among like-minded gig workers and provides a platform for coaching services.
Benefits of gig work: Gig work offers greater independence and satisfaction for more people.
- Flexibility and autonomy. Gig work offers a high degree of flexibility and the freedom to balance work and personal life.
- Varied and exciting work. Gig workers report a more fulfilling and enriching work life.
- Control over work rates. Gig workers can set their own rates or pricing structures for their services based on skills and demand.
- Diverse on-demand talent. Gig work offers a more extensive and diverse pool of skilled workers that employers tap into on demand.
Challenges of gig work: While there are challenges around this emerging business model, coaches provide an invaluable resource for those navigating the dynamic world of gig work.
- High stress. Coaches can support gig workers in managing the stress of securing gigs, financial responsibilities, and navigating unpredictable workloads.
- Isolation. Coaches are pivotal in helping clients develop strategies to manage the feelings of isolation that often affect gig workers.
- Lack of workplace protections. Coaches can empower gig workers with knowledge about their rights and to navigate the absence of traditional workplace protections.
Inequities in gig work
The gig economy can magnify structural inequalities and disparities.
- Structurally marginalized workers fill more lower-paying jobs and less desirable tasks.
- Lower-paid gig workers skew toward younger individuals who disproportionately identify as Hispanic, Black, and Asian, exacerbating existing disparities in structural equality and pay.
- The gig economy perpetuates gender pay gaps.
Coaches can address these issues by:
- Integrate skills and concepts around creating an equitable culture into your coaching practices.
- Helping organizations create belonging for gig workers by reinforcing important DEIB topics in your practices, such as microaggressions and implicit bias.
3. Coaches’ role in the gig economy
Coaching is well suited to navigating the gig economy and Industry 5.0. Coaches can guide organizations and individuals through these transitions while facilitating adaptation to the novel employment structures fostered by the gig economy. Consider how professional coaches are already prepared for many changes we will continue to experience:
- Human-centered work. Industry 5.0 focuses on a more human-centered approach to work. Coaches are pivotal in helping individuals and organizations cultivate the skills and mindset required for a more inclusive and holistic workplace.
- Leadership development. The gig economy introduces fresh challenges in leadership development. Coaching enables managers to lead a hybrid workforce effectively.
- Reskilling and upskilling. The gig economy demands new skills and competencies. Coaches assist individuals in practicing and refining these essential human skills to remain competitive in the human-machine marketplace.
- Cultivating intentional culture. Coaches collaborate with leaders to identify areas where organizational culture must adapt to attract and retain diverse talent in the gig economy.
Coaching individuals within the gig economy
Coaches excel at helping others work through the challenges and opportunities in their sphere of influence. For example, gig workers must develop new strategies to navigate an ambiguous employment status that is now time-bound and more transactional. Coaches are well suited to fill this gap in the human-centered gig economy structure.
- Effective communication. Coaches empower gig workers with enhanced communication skills so clients negotiate effectively with employers and improve opportunities and earnings.
- Create a support network. Coaching helps gig workers build supportive networks to support well-being and address feelings of isolation.
- Balance autonomy and accountability. Coaches guide clients in balancing self-empathy and structure required in the highly independent gig environment.
- Navigating uncharted waters. Coaches equip gig workers and organizational leaders with practical strategies by understanding the intricacies of the gig economy.
The gig economy is transforming work and coaching. Coaches who grow and adapt their coaching practices will emerge as valuable partners in the success of gig workers and employers.
4. Learn more about the gig economy and the future of coaching
- Learn about and follow the gig economy’s work trends and challenges to offer clients helpful guidance and strategies for success.
- Consider how you integrate the human-centered future of Industry 5.0 into your coaching practice.
- Start small with a transitional business model. This approach enables coaches to experiment and learn which coaching business model fits best through a “fail fast, fail cheaply” mindset.
- Coaches can adopt digital tools for networking, efficiency, and streamlining administrative tasks to prioritize clients.
