The Rise of the 1099 Mobile Workforce

Don’t be frightened of the title. Even though it sounds like the trailer for a Hollywood blockbuster, the 1099 mobile workforce is real, and it’s a force for good.

The structure of business is changing as field organizations swell in importance. More customers want services delivered at their home, office, or anywhere else that is convenient. Part of what’s driving this trend is that technology has made it easier to connect people in need with highly skilled individuals who work for organizations in unique ways. Freelancers and independent contractors deliver services that customers want, but companies that hire them need to provide flexibility and administrative support so the workers can focus on quality services.

The simple fact of business today is that companies must find ways to adapt to a more blended workforce, whether that means flexible full-timers or independent 1099 workers.

The 1099 Economy

The mobile revolution took that trend to an entirely new level. The dream remains, but the landscape has changed. Workers in the new “gig economy” want to be their own boss, work their own hours and go wherever they are needed. Many of them contract out their time to multiple service providers.

The 1099 workforce is a broad category that includes agency temporary workers (temps), direct-hire temps, on-call workers, day laborers, contract company workers, independent contractors, self-employed workers and standard part-time workers. Today, 30 percent of the U.S. workforce is either self-employed or working for the self-employed.

Optimal scheduling can be a nightmare for 1099 workers, but they need extra flexibility to meet their unique set responsibilities. Often there are no desks, no 40-hour work weeks, no time clocks and no regrets.

Waking Up From the Admin Nightmare

Mobile workforce scheduling software empowers the 1099 workers to concentrate on being more productive at whatever they do best.

A scheduling system deployed over mobile makes it easy to manage people in the field. If you were a 1099 worker, would you want to work for a company that requires you to fax in your hours and requires you to call to find out your schedule for the week ahead? Or would you rather handle everything and communicate with the company using an app on your own phone? Instead of being just another administrative burden, the second company is a joy to work for.

From the perspective of the company’s scheduler, It’s usually extremely complicated to keep tabs on the availability and skill set of each 1099 worker so they can be scheduled quickly without adjustments or problems. A mobile app for scheduling and communicating with field service workers saves hours every week.

Companies everywhere are using advanced tech to adapt to the needs of this new 1099 workforce. Skedulo has helped customers like AWP manage their growing team of 1099 workers. Area Wide Protective (AWP) is a national leader in traffic control personnel. They manage a workforce of more than 5,000 traffic specialists, mostly 1099 contractors.  This has proven to be an efficient and easily scalable way to grow their organization.

Secrets of 1099 Scheduling Optimization

Pulling in the best aspects of the web and mobile, Skedulo helps dispatchers optimize scheduling based on a dizzying array of factors and nuances. The result has been vast improvements in efficiency and worker engagement for companies that rely on the performance of their mobile field service army.

Deploy Skedulo to handle the what, when and where. Your business can provide the why. The world is changing fast, and the companies that do a better job of managing their field service employees are the ones blowing past the competition.

Download our e-book to learn the other four secrets of managing the rising mobile workforce. With Skedulo and a good understanding of what motivates 1099 workers, your company will be prepared to rise with them.