The Future of Staff on Demand

Staff on Demand may be an ExO attribute, but it is one with an expiration date. Automation is waiting in the wings: in the not-too-distant future, we are likely to look back at SoD as little more than an interim step before the Age of AI & Robotics.

Contrary to popular fears, this transition isn’t likely to result in drastic unemployment. More likely, it will see workers migrate towards jobs that feature direct human-to-human contact while lower-end work will be done by AIs, deep learning, or robots. We will also see the workforce team up with AIs, where most professions will have an AI co-pilot.

As part of this migration, the most successful human workers will begin to behave, as celebrated venture capitalist Reid Hoffman has described, as a “Startup of One.” That is, everyone becomes a lifestyle business. A pioneer of this new personal entrepreneurship is Etsy.

Until then, we are likely to see some fundamental changes in SoD as it becomes more pervasive, more accepted, and more powerful culturally and politically. We’re likely to see:

• Platforms of MTP communities (e.g., Kaggle) that will connect supply and demand

• New employment and labor laws

• New forms of organized labor

• Distinct SoD voting blocs, candidates, and lobbyists

• New definitions of the social contract, citizenship, and sovereignty

• Changing rules on health insurance, welfare, and work and play.

How will Staff on Demand take advantage of the emerging virtual world of the Metaverse? The people and staffing companies that figure out this opportunity first—and best—will have a decisive competitive advantage.