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posted by n1 on Sunday September 06 2015, @12:32PM   Printer-friendly
from the you-can-start-tomorrow...-and-finish-next-friday dept.

Over at the Harvard Business Review there's speculation that the paradigm of people working full-time for a single employer has outlived its usefulness:

Our vision is straightforward: most people will become independent contractors who have the flexibility to work part-time for several organizations at the same time, or do a series of short full-time gigs with different companies over the course of a year. Companies will maintain only a minimal full-time staff of executives, key managers, and professionals and bring in the rest of the required talent as needed in a targeted, flexible, and deliberate way.

There are two reasons such a flexible work system is now plausible. The first is societal values. Work-life balance and family-friendly scheduling are much more important to today's workers, and companies are increasingly willing to accommodate them. The second is technology. Advances in the last five years have greatly improved the ease with which people can work and collaborate remotely and companies and contract workers can find each other.

The opinion piece goes on to list how workers, employers and society in general will benefit from this shift. What seems to be missing is speculation on the down sides, both to employers and contractors. Originally spotted on The Eponymous Pickle.


Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 06 2015, @11:31PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 06 2015, @11:31PM (#233076)

    Have you never experienced your boss ordering you to do something unethical and also likely illegal, and if you express concerns on that point, hit back with questions and doubts about your loyalty to the company and your commitment to the job, as well as dismissive statements about the harm that will be caused and personal risk to yourself by following such orders?

    I'm the guy who works for a TV station. A few years ago, we had some children's shows come in, and some documentaries that we were running. The licence for screening the children's shows expired, and I was ordered to keep running them.

    It's my responsibility to ensure that we are obeying the broadcast licences even though I don't have them, nor the legalese to understand them fully. I asked why I should, as I wasn't protected. I was told it's not important, the company will protect me.

    It didn't.

    As for the documentaries, we were running those without a broadcast licence for four years, and the guy running the place knew it. He eventually had to stop, because the owners started making some noise about it. He blamed me for it, obviously, said it was a mistake I'd made and I'd be dealt with for it.

    So I don't have that job any more. The CEO got a bonus, though. The bonus was the care he took in not giving instructions in writing, so the business made money without any responsibility for its failure to obey the law or the contracts we were bound by.

    Never trust your boss. He's scamming you.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 07 2015, @12:35AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 07 2015, @12:35AM (#233090)

    At the first sign that you are working for unethical people, it's time to start interviewing for a new job.

    You also need to put a lawyer on retainer.

    A note to your boss is in order as well:

    2015/09/06
    To: Pointy-Haired Boss
    Re: Continued airing of unlicensed content

    Your directive of 2015/09/06 to continue to air MAFIAA's content beyond the agreed license leaves the company open to a legal mess.
    I advise against this practice.

    Respectfully yours,
    Anonymous Coward

    CC: My Shark Lawyer, Esq.
    .
    .
    Use your own wording, of course.

    -- gewg_