The architecture and design industry’s intersection with the growth of the gig economy, and with independent workers, is more pronounced than many other industries’ exposure to it – we are responsible for designing and furnishing workspaces for the rapidly expanding coworking movement.
While we design the spaces for independent workers to conduct their business, do we really understand who these workers are, what their challenges in the workforce are, and why these workers are so important to our overall economy?
A few important organizations have begun to research, advocate for and support independent workers. Meet iPSE-U.S.
iPSE-U.S., the Association of Independent Workers, “honors the tens of millions of independent workers, contractors, consultants, freelancers, self-employed, gig workers, and small business owners in America who choose to fearlessly structure their work around their lives. iPSE-U.S. supports these workers with a political voice, industry insights, portable benefit structure and an ecosystem of like-minded independent professionals.”
As the “first organized not-for-profit to represent and provide benefits to independent workers”, iPSE-U.S. offers a few staggering statistics.
“Independent workers contribute ~$1.56 trillion to the U.S. economy, accounting for 7% of the entire US GDP of 2018…Nearly 40% of the U.S. workforce will engage in independent work by 2023, an increase of 2.6% over the next four years.”
Our independent workforce is growing at a breakneck pace, but the U.S. economic and governance structures have not evolved to support the new normal, noted iPSE-U.S. Founder and President Carl Camden, in an officeinsight interview.
“We have over 50 million people who get up in the morning and contribute to the U.S. economy as independent workers,” said Mr. Camden. “And as a country, we are completely unprepared for the declining employment structure. Almost everything has to change, and we are so far behind in so many categories.”
“For example, tax collection under the current structure, which eases the burden only on larger employers, is resistant to change because it doesn’t want to deal with making things more difficult on their end. Another example is educational institutions – higher educational institutions are being subsidized by tuition support from large companies. But as more people join the gig economy and forgo working at those larger, more traditional employers, those companies provide fewer subsidies to our schools.”
We spoke with Mr. Camden and Hollie Heikkinen, founder and CEO of iWorker Innovations, about the challenges facing the independent workforce, and how those challenges affect our larger economy. iWorker Innovations is a “Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) national insurance brokerage and association management enablement provider – serving organizations and businesses with turn-key benefit solutions for Independent Workers.”
In our interview, Mr. Camden and Ms. Heikkinen outlined the goals organizations like iPSE-U.S. and iWorker Innovations are trying to achieve:
>Create a political voice and protections for independent workers.
As President and CEO of Kelly Services, a Fortune 500 workforce solutions firm, Mr. Camden spent his career creating opportunities and seeking justice for independent workers.
“When I was with Kelly Services, I was witnessing this increasing, and now rapidly growing, gig economy. We began asking, ‘How can we create a political voice for them – provide political power as well as access to benefits?’”
Mr. Camden retired from Kelly Services, and founded iPSE-U.S. to continue his work in supporting independent workers.
“If you look at the power that unions have in the pollical process, while only holding 6% of the U.S. economy, it’s astounding that independent workers occupy so much more space in our economy and yet have almost no political voice or protections to fall back on.”
“We wanted to begin creating social protections for independent workers here in the U.S.,” added Ms. Heikkinen. “These workers don’t have an HR department they can turn to. We’re advocating for independent workers to make sure they’re respected, and protected. At the federal and state level, there are archaic laws that we’re looking at that used to be relevant, but are now 80 years old. These laws don’t serve the way people work now.”
>Even the playing field in regards to health benefits.
“The health care process for employees of larger companies is extremely simple,” noted Heikkinen. “But it takes most independent workers 60-80 hours to research and cross-reference multiple plans from different health insurance providers in order to find health insurance that might not even serve their needs in the end.”
“Our country is extremely grounded on choice, and we want to bring that level of choice to independent workers.”
>Change the professional education opportunities for independent workers – both in career advancement and in future planning.
“We want to improve the education opportunities for the gig economy,” said Ms. Heikkinen. “Independent workers often don’t have the knowledge on how to further advance their career. People who work for larger employers have access to and awareness of things as basic as applying for a certification that would enable them to be paid more for their services. Another example would be educational opportunities on how to establish your business in relation to local, state and federal laws. But, independent workers often come to the gig economy via non-traditional career paths, and the same access is often not available to them.”
“How do people become educated in setting themselves up for long-term success and preparing for retirement?,” continued Ms. Heikkinen. “We have tied all of these things to the employer in a closed-off manner. But independent workers are contributing to our economic system to the benefit of all of us – how can we not simply provide the same basic career benefits to them?”
How do independent workers become a member at these organizations?
Within a couple weeks, the membership process will restructure to give people more options. A basic membership will cost $99 per year, and then people can add on additional ancillary benefits depending on what they need.
iPSE-U.S. and iWorker Innovations recently announced a strategic partnership that will bridge the two organizations’ resources to focus on social impact and public-private partnerships to the betterment of independent workers in the U.S.
“The independent workforce is here to stay, and it would be disadvantageous for all if we don’t offer support and continue to disengage with independent workers,” said Mr. Camden. “There are so many areas of concern, and we are behind in addressing most, if not all, of them. Most structures in this country are not paying attention to the impact of independent workers, and that impact is only going to grow.”
For more information on iPSE-U.S. and iWorker Innovations, head to their websites: www.ipse.us and www.iw-innov.com