Story Highlights:
- Tech companies such as Zoom and Slack are creating a new gig economy, unshackling workers from traditional offices and allowing millions to work from anywhere and for anyone.
- Two out of three freelancers use web-based platforms to find work, and the options are increasing every year.
- An exchange-traded fund that taps companies that are part of the gig economy has been steadily rising since it debuted last month.
Not long ago, paper resumes, in-person interviews and formal reference checks used to be standard procedure for landing a job.
Not anymore.
Today, LinkedIn, video interviews via Skype or Zoom and communications platforms such as Slack are remaking the future of work.
It’s all part of the gig economy.
Workers no longer have to work in traditional offices or workplaces. Technology enables them to work from almost anywhere there’s a Wi-Fi connection — home, a cabin in the woods, even the beach.
Technology is also creating a huge workforce of folks who are no longer tied to a specific employer. New audiovisual workforce communication platforms allow a new kind of “giganomics” — where workers can essentially operate as freelance contractors.
Case in point: This week, I got a proposal via LinkedIn from someone needing some data analysis work — something that would take me a few hours. The pitch: He told me it would be worth my time to do this job because there would be more work after it.
I declined and referred him to someone else. (I’m pretty busy with my new gig with the Bold Profits team.) But those types of contacts and interactions are becoming the new way of doing business in the modern workforce.
And because the trend is being driven by new technologies that are enabling this major shift in the future of work, it’s creating enormous opportunities for investors who buy into the companies creating those new platforms.
There Are Freelancer Marketplaces for Nearly Any Need
If you happened to catch my article last week, you may recall I was collaborating with the Bold Profits team via Slack and Zoom from a farm on a creek in beautiful Joelton, Tennessee.
But technology isn’t just changing how people work within companies. It’s also allowing millions of workers to start their own companies by working as contractors.
I’m talking about the freelance workforce, and it’s taking off like never before.
Before joining Paul Mampilly’s Bold Profits team, I was advising early-stage companies on financial matters, often getting connected through a freelancer marketplace called Toptal.
Toptal vets the consultants on its platform (only the top 3% qualify) and connects them with companies looking for help on specific projects, or “gigs.”
Toptal is focused on programming and finance, but there are other marketplaces for more creative business functions.
Other companies driving the trend include Upwork, which is now publicly traded, and Fiverr, which just went public.
These outfits focus on website design, branding, marketing and creative services. 99designs also has a designer focus, and PeoplePerHour centers on marketing and search engine optimization.
You see, there are freelancer marketplaces for nearly any need.
How to Put the New Workplace Trend to Work for You
The gig economy is large and will be growing. According to a 2018 survey by Freelancers Union of more than 6,000 U.S. workers:
- Sixty-four percent found work online, with 67% reporting finding more work online than they did in the previous year.
- Nine in 10 see the industry’s best days ahead.
- Fifty-one percent say that no amount of money could get them to take a traditional office job.
From an investment standpoint, we want to own the marketplaces connecting companies with freelancers and the tools they use to achieve results.
One way to do that is to subscribe to one of our Bold Profits services and invest in leading-edge tech companies — including tech initial public offerings that are remaking the modern workplace.
But another way is to add an exchange-traded fund (ETF) to your portfolio.
The SoFi Gig Economy ETF (Nasdaq: GIGE) is a new fund that’s a great option.
It has a portfolio of companies listed around the world that are part of the gig economy. In the last month, the fund has been steadily rising.
So, whether you work from home, a farmhouse in Tennessee or a traditional office, GIGE lets you profit from the companies creating the workplaces of the future.
Until next week,
Hudson Cashdan
Editor, IPO Speculator