Thread by @william_r_kerr

Our @HarvardHBS MBA course on #ManagingTheFutureOfWork is underway!

I share a few key ideas from each class that sparked conversation.

Class 9 continued our discussion of the contingent worker economy, incl Google's "shadow workforce" of contractors: vox.com/2018/12/7/1812…

TVCs (temps, vendors, contractors) make up ~50% of Google's workforce. TVCs recently protested that they deserve similar benefits (healthcare, paid vacations) & information (they're excluded from town hall meetings & other internal communications) as FT workers they work beside.

Class was very divided on how Google's CEO should respond to the TVC protests and the appropriate future size and function of TVC work. Most debate focused on the role of systems coder, and the thicket of operational, legal and ethical issues surfaced about TVCs. No resolution!

Many in class shared experiences of being part of and managing mixed contractor/FT teams and agreed there is no silver bullet solution. Here is the delicate line on one policy at Google:

There are also many spillovers into society around businesses. @rwartzman's book "The End of Loyalty" gives a powerful history of how the employer-employee relationship has changed over the last century at Coca-Cola, GE, Kodak, and GM
amazon.com/End-Loyalty-Ri…

Class also explored the Hollywood gig model and its strong union roles. Though likely to spread, class concluded this model depends upon many features rarer outside of Tinseltown: geographic concentration of key workforce, star power support, etc.
politico.com/agenda/story/2…

3 cool gig studies:

Mas-Pallais: The avg worker is willing to give up 20% of wages to avoid a schedule set by an employer on short notice
scholar.harvard.edu/files/pallais/…

Stanton-Thomas: 1st time hirers on the gig platforms get inflated worker bids - watch out!
hbs.edu/faculty/Public…

Bunchak: The gig economy shifts asset ownership, and even business financing, towards the gig worker. Dig deeper, and the loans fall even more on poorer segments of society. Important area for study and policy thought going forward...
home.uchicago.edu/~buchak/papers…