“When we ask the children of the future what they want to be when they grow up, they will not have a clear answer. They will have a list.” In 2016, Diane Mulcahy, author of a first-year gigeconomy course at an American university, published a book on the subject that became a bestseller, translated into several languages. In a conversation with Panorama, Mulcahy, who is one of America’s leading experts on the future of work, talks about the explosion of the freelance economy, especially after the transformations during the pandemic.

One of Mulcahy’s most important ideas is that governments, society, employers and workers should distinguish between work and the workplace. The first means one or more activities for which we are rewarded. Second, work is the format in which we perform this activity. Work and the workplace have not intersected for some time, and the gap between them will deepen, according to the American expert.

If you ask Diane Mulcahy what the future of work is, her short answer is that the future of work is work – period. In other words, the market will increasingly migrate from labor market to labor market. The first obstacle to this future will be the absence of labor laws that focus almost exclusively on workers.

Learn more about gig economy workers at Panorama.ro.