Why Work Nine-To-Five If You Don't Have To?

Why work nine-to-five if you don’t have to?

- Karen Fong

For most of us, our first and perhaps only brush with the idea of the gig economy is through Uber, where the drivers are considered independent contractors, not company employees. But this kind of contract work is now becoming more popular in all sorts of industries – and the flexbility and salaries mean companies and employees are welcoming it.

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While it might have been common in our parents’ era to hunker down in a nine-to-five job for years on end, that’s changing – and we have ourselves to thank.

Millennials now make up a large portion of the workforce and with that comes a changing attitude. We want more time to ourselves, less time being inefficient in an office, and we’re more ambitious about what we want to do. As a result, we look to gigs.

The whole idea behind the gig economy is that companies can hire independent contractors or freelancers for a specific role or job without having to keep them on long-term contracts.

Frank Koo, Head of Southeast Asia, Japan and Korea, LinkedIn Talent and Learning Solutions says, “Millennials in general place greater emphasis on work-life balance and career fulfillment.” This greater autonomy – whether you’re a freelancer or contract staff – is naturally an attractive choice for many young professionals, he adds.