Having run my own consulting business for over 20 years,  I’ve been a huge proponent of being independent in the workforce. I’ve always loved the variety of work/clients and also loved the inherent challenge of staying relevant and up-to-date.  I’m obviously not alone: freelancers now make up 34% of the US workforce and those numbers are expected to climb leading to more entrepreneurship and independent contracting.  Not surprisingly, the government is not happy with this change – primarily because funding for massive entitlement programs like social security and health care are built around the notion of a “fixed job”.

Nevertheless, the shift to a gig economy, or “open talent economy,” is permanent. Here are two of the most important changes we can anticipate as a result (source: Roosevelt Institute/Kauffman Foundation via Fast Company):

1. Work will consist of many “short-term” assignments

Having a job once meant security and success. More recently, people realized that job security was an illusion.

A career will be composed of thousands of short-term assignments spread out over a lifetime.

By 2040, the job market will consist of part-time assignments, portfolio careers, and entrepreneurialism. Instead of day-in, day-out work consisting of much of the same responsibilities, a career will be composed of thousands of assignments spread out over a lifetime.

2. Everyone is responsible for their own success

Workers will be forced to keep their skills sharp – it’s the only way to get the next assignment.

There will no longer be specific guidelines or career ladders to guarantee a career trajectory. Instead, workers will have to be savvier than their predecessors, because life has gotten much more complicated.

To be successful, individuals will have to be more entrepreneurial in thinking and planning their lives, meaning constantly selling themselves, defining one’s own work, and educating themselves for future assignments. In the next economy, work may be more lucrative and fulfilling, but the idea that you’ll be professionally rewarded because you’ve been loyal to a company will be a thing of the past.

See below for links to relevant studies/articles.

FAST COMPANY: 9-5 dying; changing workforce

THE WEEK.COM: Reasons govt should not over-regulate gig economy

COMPUTERWORLD.COM: Younger IT workers are increasingly choosing independence over full-time employment. 

THEWEEK.COM: what the gig economy means to small business

gig economy and the status quo

USATODAY.COM: gig economy and millennials