Gone are the days when someone held a job for life. By 2020, 40 percent of Americans will work independently. Catalant explores the seismic shift toward on-demand work, offers some insight into structural drivers, and serves up a framework for companies to adapt their strategies, so that they can leverage this change for all it's worth.

1. The Future of Work:
Winning With An Agile
Workforce

2. Did you envision yourself in your
current career, when you were 10?
2

3. 3
Did you envision
your city?

4. 4
Did you envision your city?
Your office
building?

5. 5
Your desk?

6. 6
Your commute?

7. 7
You
probably
didn’t
envision
this

8. 8
Or this
http://www.remoteyear.com/how-it-works/

9. 9
Historically, work was
where

10. 10http://www.logospike.com/company-logos-1382/
And for which company

11. 11
But work
is an
evolving
term

12. 12
How did we
get here?

13. 13
Hunter-gather groups move constantly
Prior to ~12,000BC

14. 14
http://www.regentsprep.org/regents/global/themes/change/neohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neolithic_Revolution; .cfm; Scanned from 1000 Fragen an die Natur,
via The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund, 1948., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2959985
Permanent encampments form
Neolithic Revolution ~12,000BC

15. 15
America is a nation of small, rural
farms
Agrarian America (early 1600s – late 1700s)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jjc3/8220180903

16. 16By E.L. Hoskyn - Plate from More Pictures of British History, London, 1914, p.61. Publisher: London. Adam
and Charles Black. 1914, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8386342
Farms  factories
Industrial Revolution (late 1700s – early
1800s)

17. 17http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2010/09/model-t-plant-to-become-a-museum.html
Factories  more, bigger, more efficient
factories
2nd Industrial Revolution (late 1800s – early
1900s)

18. 18
By The Opte Project - Originally from the English Wikipedia; description page is/was here., CC BY 2.5,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1538544
Mechanical  digital
3rd Industrial Revolution (2nd half
1900s)

19. 19
The way we work evolves for decades and
centuries
…until brief but explosive periods of change

20. 20
Is the 4th Industrial
Revolution underway?

21. 21https://www.mbopartners.com/uploads/files/state-of-independence-
reports/2016_MBO_Partners_State_of_Independence_Report.pdf
For millions today, and more
tomorrow, work is changing
2015 2021
29
34
# Americans working independently (Millions)
Option 1

22. 22US census; https://www.mbopartners.com/uploads/files/state-of-independence-
reports/2016_MBO_Partners_State_of_Independence_Report.pdf
For millions today, and more
tomorrow, work is changing
Independent work accelerating
Option 2
Individual proprietorships
added, ’04-144M
Americans working
independently, ’15-215M

23. The “gig” economy has grown
exponentially
23

24. 24
The lifetime “company man” ideal
has gone by the wayside.
For whom we work...
How we source work…
Where we work…
For how long we work…
…are all
changing.

25. Intuit. Twenty Trends That Will Shape The Next Decade. Mountain
View, CA. 2010.
“The brick & mortar office will be a thing
of the past…work will increasingly
shift…toward an in-my-own place, and on-
my-own-time regiment.” – Intuit
25

26. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/02/the-future-of-work/.
“New technologies are enabling…remote working, co-
working spaces and teleconferencing. Organizations are
likely to have an ever-smaller pool of core full-time
employees.” – World Economic Forum
26

27. https://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/execmail/2005/05-19newworldofwork.mspxLeopold, Till Alexander, Vesselina Ratcheva, Saadia Zahidi. Future of Jobs. World Economic Forum. 2016
“…a generation of young people who grew up with the
Internet is entering the workforce, bringing along
workstyles and technologies that feel as natural to them
as pen and paper.” – Bill Gates
27

28. 28
Why?

29. 29
Let’s consider four
topics
Workforce1
Employment landscape2
Other aids4
Technology enablement3

30. 30
The workforce today is more
educated
of the workforce has at least a bachelor’s
degree versus 27% twenty years ago39%
US census; 25 and older; Aug 2016 versus Aug 1996

31. 31
The workforce today is less
unionized
of employed workers are union members
versus 18% thirty years ago11%
US census; 2015 versus 1985

32. 32
The workforce today is more
‘Millennial’
of the workforce is from the Millennial
generation34%
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/05/11/millennials-surpass-gen-xers-as-the-largest-
generation-in-u-s-labor-force/ (data is 1Q2015); US census

33. 33
Millennials think about their
careers differently
Expect to see themselves at their current job
a decade from now16%
Would like more opportunities to work
remotely75%
Feel confident and in control of their career
paths77%
The Deloitte Millennial Survey 2016

34. 34
WORKFORCE
Millennials work and
communicate differently
MBO partners; http://www.wsj.com/articles/millennials-prefer-single-family-homes-in-the-suburbs-
1421896797; kpcb.com/InternetTrends; http://www.forbes.com/sites/neilhowe/2015/07/15/why-
millennials-are-texting-more-and-talking-less/#75da08015576
 More open to unconventional career
paths and independent work
 Attracted to autonomy and control
 Want to communicate via social media or
email
 Text ~2.5x as much as Baby Boomers

35. 35
Like father like son? A tale of two careers
• Born mid-50s
• Massachusetts public high school
• BS in business from New England
liberal arts college
• 37 years and counting at
commercial bank
• Born early-80s
• Massachusetts public high school
• BA in economics from New England
liberal arts college
• 4 years investing (2 companies)
• Masters degree
• 1 year (overseas) at multi-national
company
• 3 years at large consulting firm
• 6 months and counting starting
business and independent
consulting (via Catalant platform)
Father Son

36. 36US census, current data is 2015; data represents December of each year (seasonally adjusted)
Employment above long-term
avg Unemployment for the total workforce, below the 40-year
average (6%)5%
Unemployment rate for workforce participants ages 20-24,
below the 40-year avg (10%) and significantly below
recession-driven 16% reached in 2009
9%

37. 37US census
Manufacturing  service-oriented
industries
Jobs lost in manufacturing
Jobs added in education &
health serv., prof. & biz
services, and hospitality
23%
35%
Job movement, 2000 - 2015

38. 38US census, Aug 1996 and 2016
Worker  manager
Jobs lost from ‘sales and office’
and ‘production, transportation,
and material moving’
Jobs added to ‘management
and professional’
11%
41%
Job movement, 1996 - 2016

39. 39
Source: Manyika, James, Susan Lund, Byron Auguste and Sreenivas Ramaswamy.
Help wanted: The future of work in advanced economies. McKinsey Global
Institute. 2012.
“By 2020, the United States may have 1.5 million too few
workers with college or graduate degrees and nearly 6
million too many who have not completed high school” –
McKinsey Global Institute

40. 40
KPCB.com/internettrends;
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carnabotnet_geovideo_lowres.gif
~Ubiquitous global internet…
billion internet users, 42% of
global population
3

41. 41KPCB.com/internettrends;
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carnabotnet_geovideo_lowres.gif
…and ~ubiquitous smart
phone
billion smart phone users, more
than 5x penetration in 2010
2.5

42. 42Comscore
Even more so in the US
million smart phone users, 80% of
all cell phones
200

43. 43http://fortune.com/2016/08/04/america-internet-speed-spikes/
Internet speeds are fast…
Mbps --- average download speed on broadband in the
US in June 2016, up 42% Y-o-Y55
Mbps --- avg download speed on mobile, up 33% Y-o-Y20

44. 44Fortune.com
…and getting faster…
Gbps --- expected top download speed
on 5G mobile networks1

45. 45Akamai State of the Internet 1Q2016
…everywhere
Countries with faster average connection
speeds than the US14

46. 46By Fuelrefuel - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5146472;
https://www.skype.com/en/meetings/; https://blogs.skype.com/2016/04/28/over-1-billion-skype-mobile-
downloads-thank-you/
Video calls available to everyone
billion Skype downloads, as of 4/161
From:
To:

47. 47
KPBC; By Victorgrigas - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20348454
Storage way up
10 billion petabytes
of data in the digital
universe, growing
50% p.a.
~$0.06 per GB of
storage, falling 20%
per annum
Storage costs
way down

48. 48https://www.cnet.com/how-to/onedrive-dropbox-google-drive-and-box-which-cloud-storage-
service-is-right-for-you/
Secure cloud storage and file
sharing available to all
Gigabytes of free storage
15 10 5 2

49. 49http://www.naiop.org/en/Magazine/2015/Winter-2015-2016/Development-Ownership/The-
Future-of-Shared-Office-Space.aspx; https://blog.coworkworldwide.com/2016/01/26/the-global-
coworking-survey-20152016/; http://coworkworldwide.com/top-coworking-spaces-world
Coworking space expanding rapidly
Number of coworking spaces globally
20132005 2016
3,0001
7,800

50. 50https://www.dol.gov/sites/default/files/ebsa/researchers/statistics/retirement-
bulletins/historicaltables.pdf
Traditional pensions a thing of the
past
# of private defined-benefit pensions
1983 2013
175k
44k

51. 51
Workers no
longer reliant
upon employer-
sponsored
healthcare 
healthcare.gov

52. 52
What’s changed so far?
Education digitizing1
Remote work increasing2
HR teams changing approach4
Gig economy ‘mainstreamed’3

53. 53
Number represent fall of each year; 2002 number estimated;
http://onlinelearningconsortium.org/read/online-report-card-tracking-online-education-united-
states-2015/
Online education continues to grow
2002 2014
1.2
5.8
# of higher education students enrolled
in at least one online course
(Millions)
28% of all
enrolled
students

54. 54https://2u.com/impact/impact-report-2016/individual/
Case study: 2U. “We power the
world’s best online degree
programs”
students enrolled since inception in
2008, with 83% retention21,000
faculty members at 14 university
partners, including 6 of the top 251,000

55. 55
Remote working: rare 
common
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/270585; Gallup poll
1996 2015
9%
37%
Workers that have worked remotely

56. 56Remoteyear.com
Case study: Remote Year. “Travel
the world while working remotely”
applications per day to enroll in the program2,000

57. http://nextjuggernaut.com/blog/on-demand-economy-survey-stats-future-economy-funding-trends-on-demand-startups/;
MeasuringGigEconomy_1609.pdf staffingindustry.com
57
The on-demand economy is
the new norm
of US workers did gig work in 201529%
of US adults have used at least one
on-demand startup42%

58. 58Gocatalant.com
Case study: Catalant. “Changing the way
knowledge is discovered and talent is harnessed”
consultants on the platform, growing
organically 500 per week
31,000
Fortune 1,000 clients and several hundred
SMBs
100+

59. 59
“home-working will no longer be defined as a Friday luxury, but a more
efficient way to work enabled by technology, taking the physical strain from
megacities and regionalising work locations.” - World Economic Forum
Employers are responding with a
range of remote and flexible jobs

60. 60
Where has the impact been
felt?

61. 61sf.eater.com
Task-oriented
work

62. 62
Travel & transportation

63. 63
Tech: engineers,
developers,
designers, product
managers

64. 64
Consulting
“we are seeing the beginnings of a shift in consulting’s competitive dynamic from the
primacy of integrated solution shops…to modular providers…The shift is generally
triggered when customer realize that they are paying too much for features they don’t
value.” – Harvard Business Review
HBR: Consulting on the Cusp of Disruption

65. 65
Legal
“The legal market has historically lacked transparency, making it difficult for us to
deviate from using incumbent, brand-name law firms…Things are changing now.”
HBR: Consulting on the Cusp of Disruption
“AdvanceLaw survey of general counsel found that 52% agree (and only 28%
disagree) with the statement that general counsel “will make greater use of temporary
contract attorneys,” and 79% agree that “unbundling of legal services…will rise.” –
Harvard Business Review

66. 66
Where else?
Shifting consulting budgets, decreasing
staff, changing HR strategy
Large
companies
Access to resources not previously
available at affordable rates
SMBs
Automation and robotics reducing labor
demand
Manufact-
uring

67. 67
Where are we
going?[a few guesses]

68. 68
Smaller FTE core
Lower need for physical space and
associated costs
Real estate
Ongoing and increased need for
investing in and/or managing technology
that enables remote work
Technology
Newly emphasized skill set in sourcing
short-term talent; HR evolves and
becomes even more important
HR

69. 69
Changing competition for talent
 Shorter average tenure requires more-frequent
talent acquisition and competition
“As many as 230 million [globally] could find new jobs more
quickly [by 2025], reducing the duration of unemployment, while
200 million who are inactive or employed part time could gain
additional hours through freelance platforms.” – McKinsey Global
Institute
 Companies compete both with each other and
with ‘going independent’ for FTEs

70. 70
More nimble and versatile
career paths
“Millennials will likely continue to seek out independent work in
greater numbers. In addition to being attracted to the freedom,
autonomy and control it provides, they see independent work as
a viable career path.” – MBO Partners, State of Independence
in America
Typical promotion path dies in favor of more
flexibility within (and outside of) organizations
Source: MBO Partners. America’s Independents A Rising Economic Force– 2016 State of
Independence in America. Herndon, VA: MBO Partners, 2016

71. 71
What remains
to be solved?
[a lot]

72. 72
How will we train the next
generation of workers and
leaders…
…if they aren’t showing up in
the office to do trust falls?

73. 73
How will leaders cultivate
corporate culture…
…when employees aren’t
together 40 hours per week?

74. 74
How will our system of
external validation evolve to
ensure career and salary
progression…
…if more and more people
work independently?

75. 75
How will companies provide
benefits and incentives…
…if “employee” becomes a
more-fluid term?

76. 76
What will we do with all that office
space?

77. 77
Let’s sum it up

78. 78
We are living in a golden age
The next period of massive change

79. 79
Where there is massive change…
…there is massive opportunity

80. A collective vision of what a company
looks like embracing the Future of Work
• The organization ‘wins’ by efficiently accessing, engaging and deploying the best capability in the world, no matter where it sits
• Projects are the core unit of work and team members are measured, incentivized and reviewed based on specific performance
• There is no longer a distinction between ‘our employees’ and ‘talent’ we access dynamically, inside and outside of our company
• HR’s focus expands beyond talent ‘acquisition’ to constantly engaging and re-engaging unique talent in the most efficient way
• The company strives constantly to be the engager of choice and not just great to work at, but also great to work with
• People are matched with projects based on talent AND passion, creating special and consistent mission and purpose
• Retention isn’t about securing FTEs – it’s about engaging and supporting talent throughout its career journey

81. Key organization changes required
to achieve our vision
Planning /
Budgeting
Human
Resources
Legal /
Procurement
Culture /
Behaviors
Internal
Training
• Design our
budgeting process
to shift from
headcount to cost
orientation;
match funding to
support specific
“jobs to be done”
• Train managers
on how to scope
and select skills
required for a
need, and
accurately
diagnose when
outside help
makes sense
• Develop the
ability and
competency to
give real-time,
project-based
feedback to
people who we
may never meet
in person
• Develop
mechanisms to
keep external
talent aligned
with long-term
project success
• Partner with our
legal teams to
help them
understand how
to ensure
compliance while
engaging with
external help
• Develop process
to provide
external team
members access
while protecting
intellectual
property of the
company
• Re-align on-
boarding and off-
boarding to
support specific
projects but still
create
understanding of
the mission and
culture
• Ensure external
team members fit
with social norms
(or whether they
don’t, when we’re
looking for
someone to
disrupt our
normal way of
operating)
• Focus leadership
training on
leading teams
that may be
remote and
consist of both
employees and
external team
members
• Enable teams to
organize and
form with clear
roles and
responsibilities,
dynamically and
quickly

82. 82
For more information visit:
www.gocatalant.com
617-997-6734
280 Summer St. | Boston, MA