How the Gig Economy Is Changing the Tech Industry

The Accenture Technology Vision 2017 looks at the key trends that will affect enterprises over the next three years. One of those trends is an increase in on-demand labor platforms and online work management solutions that are driving companies to dissolve traditional hierarchies and completely reinvent their workforces.

"We believe this will drive a workforce revolution: Archaic workforce structures where people had a specific job within an organization are being upgraded to labor platforms that allow more on-demand models, giving people opportunities to work on different things and in different ways," said Mary Hamilton, managing director and lead of the Digital Experiences R&D group at Accenture Labs, and Alex Kass, Accenture Labs Fellow.

According to the Accenture Technology Vision 2017 companion survey of more than 5,400 business and IT executives, we found:

• Eighty-five percent of executives plan to increase their organization’s use of independent freelance workers over the next year.
• Seventy-six percent of executives agree organizations are under extreme competitive pressure to extend innovation into their workforce and corporate structure.
• Seventy-three percent of executives we surveyed report that corporate bureaucracies are stifling productivity and innovation.

The gig economy is clearly disrupting the tech industry, both in positive and negative ways.