Technology has made it so that I can email you much more easily than I can call you. We can communicate virtually just as well as we can connect face-to-face. With the recession cut-backs, many companies have taken advantage of that. Workers have been treated as disposable. Cost-containment is important. It’s the most important part, in fact, if your business is struggling financially. But what is creating disposable workers doing to your company?

Temps, freelancers, contractors, and interim executives are easy to get rid of. What kind of culture is having temporary workers creating? First, the bright side…

You get better talent.

The more ’stable’ jobs are the ones that are sought after by high potentials seeking the executive track. Since there are fewer of these positions available, competition is increased, and you can be more selective. Yet, the temps, the contractors and consultants feel the competition as well, because you are their ‘client.’ You can hire experts when experts are needed and generalists where generalists are needed. Consequentially, the bar is increased and you have your pick.

Performance matters more.

This lack of job security ensures that people have incentives to perform well. No longer will you see the “experienced” worker complacently getting by with their mediocre performance, hanging on just because they have been there “forever.” It will be a lot harder to fake it. Workers will HAVE to deliver value. Low performance is so blatantly obvious in this type of culture. So if performance matters more, that means workers can have more flexibility.

Engagement is high.

A temporary position means the work period is short and intense. This keeps things interesting. Every project is a last chance to do a good job and win business. For ALL workers, this means a faster pace.

But, of course, there is a downside…

Performance will drop.

How long does it take for a worker to get onboarded to a company? They say it takes three to six months, perhaps more, before a new worker can deliver real value to an organization. It takes time to get accustomed to what works and what doesn’t in the new situation and to explore the tacit knowledge that exists within a company. There is a reason that turnover costs companies so much. It is plausible to assume that cost will be compounded if more and more jobs are being done by contractors or temps.

On-demand labor doesn’t work.

You can’t turn human productivity on and off like a light bulb. If you are determined to try, you’ll get a flicker when you demand ON and you’ll get OFF when you could have had ON. People are real with emotions that affect their performance.

Innovation takes Knowledge, Knowledge takes Experience.

Following the Industrial Age, we had the era of the Knowledge Worker. It has been said that in the future lies the Creative Worker. The competitive advantage is not information itself, but the use of the information, and then innovation. Obviously, it’s not going to happen without people. Less obviously, it’s not going to happen without people who don’t know your industry or company very well.

I want to know…

• Do the pros outweigh the cons for companies?
• Are there some jobs/industries where these things don’t matter?
• What does it mean for our careers?