The “gig” approach to career development: What are traditional companies missing?
For most of us, cab hails, overpriced hotels, and dial-in takeout are memories of days gone by. In turn, hitting the Uber button, splitting an Airbnb, and dishing up a DoorDash have become staples of today’s app-powered service economy, which makes the consumer world go round. That’s due to the “gig” model — a reinvention of business and work that gave rise to some of the most disruptive companies of the past ten years.
The gig economy has also left its mark on the way that we engage in work itself: per CNN, the number of gig workers in the US more than tripled between 2017 and 2021, becoming a core employment sector. Since then, it has initiated broader conversations about where flexibility lands within modern workers’ priorities.
As a gig worker, your options are open. Platforms like Upwork and Fiverr have expanded the gig work category across numerous industries, allowing side hustles to become viable alternatives to traditional contract work. In fact, Upwork’s 2023 research reported that the majority of those surveyed had an “extremely positive outlook” on the benefits of gig work, beyond just income (76%). Over three-quarters of respondents had a favorable view of the gig economy landscape in regards to career development, future job prospects, and personal growth. Clearly, workers are turning to gig work for more than just extra cash.
That may be in part due to the entrepreneurial associations of short-term work. By contrast with the traditional career ladder, gig workers are afforded independence and freedom that likens them to “solopreneurs” — they control their own schedules, build out their own budgets, choose their own projects, and so forth. The by-product is business sense, on a small-scale basis.
In fact, there’s a proven relationship between entrepreneurial activity and gig work opportunities. A study of 1,200 US cities carried out by Washington University researchers showed that the entry of ride-hailing services like Lyft and Uber into these areas correlated with a small, but significant rise in new business registrations and administration loans, alongside an increase in Google queries related to starting a business. On this count, searches for terms relevant to gig work were also consistent with measures of stronger entrepreneurial activity.
Of course, that relationship at least partly stems from the financial fall-back option provided by gig work, making new ventures less risky. Not to mention, quitting a job you’ve had for years is a harder thing to do than deleting an app that pings you for a pick-up. But whether gig work is the choice of would-be business owners because it cushions financial risks, or because the work style is more suited to entrepreneurial tendencies, the concurrence tells us a message: when it comes to careers, flexibility fosters innovation.
If that’s the case, then the concept of “gigging” isn’t being used readily enough by more traditional companies grappling with new pressures to upskill their workforces — and, crucially, retain talent. Although it has long been associated with the “side hustle,” gig work has a vital application in corporate structures… and French pharmaceuticals firm Sanofi is breaking ground by doing just that.
The grassroots of gigs
Taking cues from the gig work arrangement, Sanofi’s program is a best-in-class career development initiative that engages employees in internal short-term projects alongside their usual responsibilities. Typically, these will be in a functional area of business that an employee is interested in, but has never previously experienced. This comes regardless of a worker’s existing skill set — one Sanofi employee, for instance, spent 23 years in Sanofi’s R&D department before taking on a gig in the company’s Talent Acquisition team. The experience ultimately led to a job as a People & Culture Senior Management Lead.
That said, it’s not only intended for career-changers. Sanofi’s program is just as effective in helping employees broaden their skill sets and develop cross-functional competencies, with leaders at the company aware of the impending influence of new business demands. Recent research from The World Economic Forum quantifies this: companies estimate that 61% of current workforces will require upskilling or reskilling before 2027. The same report supports the business case for upskilling, with two-thirds of companies expecting to see a return on investment within a year of training — whether that’s cross-role mobility, increased worker satisfaction, or increased productivity.
Even so, great business outcomes are the sum of their parts. Sanofi recognizes that building these means affording flexibility to employees. A core tenet of the company’s work ethos is exploration — and the gig program is a grassroots example of where that begins. Sanofi’s gig opportunities guide employees towards where they are most fulfilled and where their strengths lie, no matter how long they may have been in a particular function of business. According to Gallup polling for 2023, one of the top attributes sought out by workers in new jobs is “doing what [they] do best”, alongside the appeal of flexibility and well-being.
In traditional vertical progression structures, doing what you do best isn’t always a given. Promotions are attained based on tenure and experience, as well as achievements in a specific department. Until the C-suite level, this progression is largely siloed. It doesn’t necessarily incentivize cross-functional skill sets, or tap into talent in other areas of business that an employee may not have considered previously.
That may be why Sanofi’s gigging program is popular across several age brackets. It’s not only the newer members of the workforce: there are significant numbers of gig users in the 45-49 demographic, suggesting that senior employees also see the value in taking a step sideways. The skills-based diversification offers not only personal fulfillment, but peace of mind, too: the trend of increasing desire for job security and stability is also met by Sanofi’s gigs, since workers gain valuable new competencies. Whether taken up with a view to curiosity, security or skills agility, the flexibility unlocked by the program gives Sanofi’s employees what gig workers rave about: self-direction.
Sanofi’s gig-based approach to career development could have a broad scope application in the professional world. As a company whose continued relevance hinges on innovation and discovery, Sanofi placed a bet that affording more flexibility to individual employees would forward their mission — and it’s paying off. What’s left is a culture of curiosity that invites every employee to participate, wherever they find purpose. And in the job market, the style of work facilitated by the gig economy serves as a pointer to traditional employers that are looking for talent — and must therefore compete with it.
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