The gig economy has evolved from a niche market that was largely populated by Uber drivers and freelancers on Upwork, into an important segment of the world economy full of talented specialists and a $200 billion global transaction volume. This process was emboldened and became a fundamental consideration in FinTech when the global pandemic spotlighted the inefficiency of legacy work models along with how we’d actually like to balance work and living.
The need for interim executives in FinTech
FinTechs are in need of interim management & executives. They are generally cautious not to expose themselves to long-term hires, given the uncertainty engendered by the pandemic.
Leaders in FinTech believe that agility is a key component to their success, and a large portion agree that an on-demand workforce can achieve business goals with greater speed and efficiency than legacy models, thereby reducing cost. A bonus is that hiring a contractor is often easier to get stakeholder approval for.
With specialist contractors, businesses can tap into the right skills and resources at the right moment, and we’re seeing a big push for this in FinTech and among some of our clients. It’s also evident the hyper-specialization of work today, coupled with the shorter duration of project assignments, the ability to scale at will is necessary for these FinTechs to compete.
The rise of interim executives in FinTech
The rise of the gig economy means more and more talented executives in FinTech are interested in working as independent contractors. Flexibility and independence play a much more prominent role in how they choose to structure their work life.
The growing popularity of gig work in the managerial and executive space has aligned with the impromptu work-from-home (or hybrid) model that’s now almost ubiquitous among FinTechs. It just makes sense for specialists, who are more and more willing to trade the benefits of a traditional career in order to gain mobility and autonomy given the current environment.
The current landscape for contingent work appears a little heavy on demand, not due to the lack of supply of specialist interim talent, but because accessing as well as effectively managing this talent can be difficult. This new workforce model is saddled with outdated business systems, processes and inadequate frameworks.
It’s starting to look like this mutualistic movement toward an on-demand workforce is not far off becoming a majority segment in the global economy, and for those agile businesses willing to do the necessary to adapt their work structures accordingly, a far more efficient and scalable business awaits.
