Gig Economy: How It’s Affecting Your Organization!

Gig-economy is the newest catchphrase on the professional block. It basically means a working environment that relies less on permanent contract employees and more on freelancers and project-based talent. There are various reasons why organizations may choose to work in a gig-economy styled environment. They may try to save money that would otherwise become a burden with a fixed salary expense. Some organizations especially choose to work with freelancers and project-based talent to explore various creatively inclined persons at different levels and for multiple projects to get an idea of who works best for what. 

Companies like logistics providers, tech firms, creative agencies and similar industries tend to employ the most flexible employees/talent for their projects, tasks and requirements. The market is set to increase favourably towards being a successful gig-based environment because it allows organizations to save funds away from permanent employment and also the talent as it gives them time to take on more projects without compromising productivity on just one. 

However, this increase in flexible and gig-based employment does not waive off the need for a background verification. Instead, if your gig-based talent is going to be in and out of your offices and interacting with your team members for project tasks, it is very important to ensure that they are thoroughly vetted for all details, whether education, personal, employment or financial. A reliable and stringent background verification policy must be enforced for flexible employment of talent to make sure that the right candidates are being hired to work with your team. 

In our post-COVID era, many companies have converted into a permanent work-from-home environment which has allowed employees to comfortably share information, ideas and documents over cloud-based storage for ease of access and convenience of sending. However, another glitch here is the sharing of sensitive data without truly knowing the person on the receiving end. A background verification will allow for safe and secure hiring for those to even work from home. An identity check will tell you if your candidate is lying or omitting any details from their profile, and this helps you understand your candidate a little better, while still making sure that you are aware about hiring/firing certain kinds of freelancers and project-based employees. 

The main crux of any verification for gig-economy talent is:

– Similar to other forms of verification. 

– Checking academics to ensure correct capabilities.

 – Court records check to ensure that there are no implications.

– Address & ID verification to ensure that your freelancer has a roof over their head.

– Previous employment checks to understand the true nature of your candidate.

While some office-goers are now going into workspaces to collaborate and ideate together, there are still those that are afraid to step out and interact with others. In any case, a background check and identity verification leaves you better safe than a detrimental sorry. Make sure to always understand your candidates better than anyone ever did first. Prevention is always better than cure!