The pandemic has disrupted the workforce twice. Once when it made remote working normal and another time when it empowered workers to be more autonomous and powerful. Scott Absher, the CEO at ShiftPixy talks about what happens now.

About Scott

Scott Absher is the CEO at ShiftPixy - a company focused on streamlining the gig economy to unleash new potentials for flex workers and the companies who hire them. His interest in the gig economy began with his skepticism toward companies like Uber and Lyft who, in his opinion, provide unreliable sources of income to workers.
Today, his skepticism continues as he builds ShiftPixy to demand more. More for gig workers and more for the companies who depend on them.

Key Web Links

The system for Identifying Motivated Abilities: http://simainternational.com/
Follow Scott Absher: LinkedIn
Website: https://shiftpixy.com/

SHOW NOTES

0:00 | Who is Scott Absher (ShiftPixy)?
00:27 | What is ShiftPixy (and how it cures toxic turnover)? 
10:54 | Three waves of human capital markets disruption.
13:00 | The user experience of the gig worker
15:24 | Leveraging opportunities in the temporary staffing market.
20:22 | Two unexpected insights about temporary staffing and flexible human capital.
22:08 | How ShiftPixie facilitates the discoverability of part-time staffers.
24:01| The challenge of finding reliable and consistent gig workers (and the shifting balance of power in the workforce)
26:55 | What will the workforce look like in 2024?
28:27 | How to discover what your staff members are passionate about (and why you should care about that).
32:59 | The downside to remote work (project drift and disconnected passion).
35:48 | Why ShiftPixie relocated its headquarters from Southern California to Miami

QUOTES

“I knew we would have a big opportunity in the temporary staffing industry. That’s the other half of the part-time labor population and that is a very old business that has not been technically adapted to the new market. And, in fact, they never had to. They didn’t have to use elegant technology to communicate with their clients or with the people that were doing the work for them to make that investment.” - Scott Absher [15:24]

“We also learned how dependent the fortune 1000 is on this type of agile or flexible human capital. The fortune 1000 clients kept popping up in our due diligence work and as we’re putting things together at the end of the day, we’re going to be delighting these types of clients…Walmart, Target, Amazon, FedEx, they all rely on flexible labor.” - Scott [20:41] 

“Wages are already escalating. It’s really funny.  Without legislation, we now have a new national minimum wage of at least $15/hour. We think that’s going to settle more at $20.  And that’s supply and demand. Right now, the workforce is carrying the balance of power. If you’re doing creative work, you hold the power.  If you’re doing software development, you hold the power. If you’re doing blue-collar labor, you hold the power. And it’s going to be reflected in wages but also flexibility.” - Scott [26:20]

“What you’re going to see is people rethinking work. Starting off with the fundamental question: why do I work? And what do I want to do?”  - Scott [27:19] 

“When you can link somebody’s passion to their occupation, you get Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods.” - Scott [32:04]