Free Agents in the workforce

Do you remember back in the dark ages, oh, probably five or six years ago when all was sunny and bright?  When the promise of increasing bandwidth and fascinating dot-coms would create value by "stickiness"?  When technology and brainpower would free us from the drudgery of a 9-5 job.  From the looks of the most recent economic numbers, they got the last part right.  A lot of people have been freed up from their 9-5 drudgery.

However, what I'm most interested in examining today is the concept of the "Free Agent".  You may recall a book on the topic - Free Agent Nation - which argued that with so much well educated talent and the ability to work wherever, whenever an individual wanted, it was likely that we'd become a nation of free agents, selling our talents in short time spans to the highest bidder, then moving on.  That book was published in 2002, as the Dot Com era was beginning to fall apart.  I think that after the dot com bust and 9/11, people sought the comfort of more permanent, "stable" employment in larger organizations, so Pink's ideas did not find root in that timeframe.  However, there's a good argument to be made that the concept of the free agent may be more important in the near term future.

Right now, many firms are struggling to determine where their core values and capabilities are, and what's extraneous to those core capabilities.  Every firm has strengths and weaknesses, but most are trying to get back to base principles, and then build from there.  What many of these firms want is flexibility in their workforce, the ability to quickly scale up and slim down.  Additionally, many would rather have a few very deeply skilled people than a big team that may not have as much skill.  I suspect that these factors, along with the increase in broadband, Software as a Service and mobility will lead to an increase in free agents.  Right now there are a number of very strong people available who have been burned by "safe" organizations - Bear Sterns anyone? - and may trust themselves over corporations again.  There are still needs for many of the talents and services these folks can provide, but newly chastened firms won't be hiring full time again soon.  The needs of the businesses may coincide with the desires of the newly departed.

Using more "free agents" will provide greater flexibility, new thinking and perhaps a deeper skill set than retaining an internal team.  It will cost less, as firms don't have to carry retirement or health care on the free agents.  On the flip side, the free agents can build credible small businesses and control their own destinies. 

Pink was probably right, just out of phase with history when he wrote Free Agent Nation.  The discontinuity of the downturn may lead to a new contract between businesses and talented individuals.

Comments

[Daniel Pink]

Great analysis. Very interesting points. For me, maybe it's better late than never!
Cheers,
Dan

[James Shewmaker]

Unfortunately, the current congress is not focused on innovation in a free market economy but rather on the old model of a corporation providing a permanent career path for its employees. A corporation asking employees to be flexible is viewed as greedy and unfair.

It may be, if there are changes in the demographics of congress that in 2011 these ideas may be feasible.

[Tamela Rich]

Free Agent Nation is one of my favorites -- Pink was indeed ahead of the curve.

Great organization to familiarize yourself with: www.freelancersunion.org/

Here's a post on my blog on this topic http://blog.tamelarich.com/

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However, what I'm most interested in examining today is the concept of the "Free Agent". You may recall a book on the topic - Free Agent Nation - which argued that with so much well educated talent and the ability to work wherever.