NEW YORK–Will credit unions be hiring more gig workers in the future? A new reports suggests that will be the case.
The report, released by PwC, forecasts financial institutions will significantly increase use of gig economy workers in order to upskill their respective workforces. In fact, up to one-fifth of future workers could be gig employees, according to the report, “Productivity 2021 and beyond: Upskilling the workforce of the future to create a competitive advantage in financial services.”
PwC said the second iteration its productivity research surveyed more than 500 financial services businesses globally, and received over 60% of responses from C-suite leaders. The report sought to examine some key workstreams implemented by financial services businesses and evaluated its impact on productivity, PwC said.
The report defines gig workers as non-full-time employees that are sourced for specific projects and skills for a function or engagement and are not exclusive to any employer. They may be working on multiple projects for different firms, with no defined period of time.
“The upskilling of the workforce is a key element to improving productivity within financial services,” PwC stated. “This includes better understanding of the workforce, embracing the platform economy and gig workers and making sure employees are equipped with the right digital tools, specialist knowledge and soft skills to navigate in the new normal of the business world. Firms need new capabilities – both in-house and through outsourcing – as technology solutions increasingly involve collaboration with third parties.”
Up to One-Fifth of Workforce
PwC noted that despite increasingly available on-demand talent, most institutions still rely primarily on full-time and part-time employees.
The study found that among respondents, contractors comprise just 9% of the workforce, and gig-economy talent makes up just 5%.
“PwC believes that gig economy employees will likely perform 15% to 20% of the work of a typical institution within five years, driven by continuous cost pressure and the need to access digitally skilled talent,” the company said in releasing the report. Beyond the gig-economy, the report also highlights that crowd-sourcing solutions are a key contributor to improve productivity. Crowd-sourcing has more than doubled since 2018, cited by 50% of the survey’s participants, from 21% in the first survey, of which 80% of respondents who leveraged crowd-sourcing believed it added ‘high value’ to their organizations, PwC said. This is a significant increase from just 39% who felt it would add value in 2018, it added.
“Leaders in the industry are looking seriously at their workforces to evaluate which roles need to be performed by permanent employees and which can be performed by gig-economy workers, contractors or even crowd-sourced on a case-by-case basis. COVID-19 and remote working have opened the door to accessing talent outside of a firm’s physical location, including outside of the country,” said John Garvey, PwC’s Global Financial Services Leader. “What we are seeing now is a talent marketplace for gig workers in financial services, competing to take advantage of their specialist skill set and boost productivity within their businesses.”
The Challenges
The report notes, however, there are challenges for financial services businesses taking on gig economy working, which will require overcoming several obstacles. The survey shows the most common issue cited by respondents include confidentiality concerns (44%), a lack of knowledge (43%), regulatory risk (42%) and overall risk avoidance (37%).