Diane Mulcahy, an independent contractor, writer, speaker and university professor, as well as a consultant for several Fortune 500 companies, comments on an article referencing her work as a part of ‘gig economy’.
Mulcahy created a syllabus for a new MBA class called Entrepreneurship and the Gig Economy at Babson College. During the course’s first run, a dozen students enrolled, but now it has 42 students and very popular. Mulcahy believes it was very innovative and open-minded of the school to agree to run this course, Poets&Quants reports.
The trend of ‘gig economy’
This notion has become very trendy recently, as many professionals started working as independent specialists or freelancers instead of taking on a conventional job at a company, or as a second ‘job’. However, business schools have mostly been slow on the uptake with this new development.
McKinsey’s Global Institute conducted a survey which found that more than 162 million people, both in Europe and the United States, are involved in some kind of independent work. Nowadays, the number of companies outsourcing jobs to independent professionals continues growing.
However, at most business schools, classes are taught from the point of view of traditional full-time employment. Hence, if students decide to pursue some untraditional way of employment, they’ll have to figure it out on their own, as schools view this kind of ‘gig economy’ as inferior to a full-time job.
How ‘gig economy’ influences businesses
At Babson College, Mulcahy’s course is based on her book The Gig Economy: The Complete Guide to Getting Better Work, Taking More Time Off, and Financing The Life You Want. The author believes that her book helps students comprehend new economy trends and find out about the impact of ‘gig economy’ on businesses.
However, the course has recently become less impersonal, with young students having innovative ideas about jobs, stability and the influence of ‘gig economy’ on their future employment. The class even helps future directors and managers work with independent professionals and use their services much more effectively.
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