1. V ICES of Workable Futures
Platforms and Policies
5 Insights for Building the Workable Future
Eri Gentry
Research Manager
Institute for the Future | January 18, 2017

2. Building blocks of the platform economy

3. reputation | communicating qualifications
learning | leveling up our skills
rhythms | balance and patterns
location | mobility and work
value | time and money
assets | income potential
identity | sense of self

4. 5 Insights for Building the Workable Future

5. 1. LEARNING Human resources vs self-directed upskilling
Instead of ascending the ladder, learning followed by advancement, “you burn out.”
Unique learning opportunities
“I do all these on-demand platforms to learn more about other people and industries.”

6. insights for policymakers
helping workers learn and advance
Platforms provide new pathways into the workforce.
Policymakers can support workforce learning initiatives and forums to rethink and redefine what job readiness means in the context of the platform economy.

7. 2. RHYTHMS The 9-to-5 vs dynamic work
“10am to noon and midnight to 2am are the best windows”
Control over your schedule and prioritizing life
Accept or decline tasks based on whether they fit with children’s schedules

8. insights for policymakers
balancing needs beyond the platform
Workers have a complex hierarchy of needs.
Policymakers can step back and look at the larger ecosystem to reveal intervention points beyond the scope of a single platform.

9. 3. LOCATION Going to work vs working where you are
One worker strategically moves to low- demand areas to apply for full-time work
A new geography of opportunity
“People in Australia and London are paying me $15/hr because their minimum wage is a lot higher”

10. insights for policymakers
meeting workers where they are
Different platforms come with different relationships to location.
Policymakers can find ways to categorize and segment platforms by relationship to place rather than treating all platforms the same.

11. 4. VALUE Salaries vs unpredictable incomes
Frustration that everyone takes a cut
Looking beyond the paycheck
When my doctor advised me to get stomach surgery to lose weight, “that motivated me. I was like, ‘Okay, I need to get jobs where I can move around a lot.’”

12. insights for policymakers
helping workers understand financial risk and resilience
Workers often manage multiple streams of income.
Policymakers can help fund programs that build literacy around earning a living from a combination of income streams that range from reliable to risky.

13. 5. IDENTITY Career-based identity vs forming a new sense of self
Driving in drag lets me “create an environment where people can fully be themselves.”
Communities with shared experience
When I meet other Instacart workers in the grocery store, we stop to chat, vent, and swap stories.
Identifying with larger agendas: buying time to heal, financing travel, flexibility to pursue passions

14. insights for policymakers
understanding portability of worker identity
Some platform workers are more vulnerable than others.
Policymakers can help by understanding which identities are more and less portable into the platform economy and identify gaps that need addressing with supportive policy measures.

15. location-based opportunity
upskilling and advancing
portable identities
balancing complex needs
navigating financial risk