Flexibility and Stability: Finding the Balance

During the pandemic, one of our app users out of California was all about the one-off shifts. His elderly parents lived in Florida and he would pick up just enough work to pay for his travel every time he headed east. Then, his priorities changed. In addition to offsetting the cost of his travel, he also wanted some stability in how and when he worked. He moved to Las Vegas and ended up matching really well with one of our business partners there. He has now settled down into a long-term employment engagement. According to our data, this is not an isolated case.

We recently surveyed our network of hourly workers, and the results were interesting — 70% were looking for longer-term relationships with businesses (at least five shifts per week). Those results might be surprising to anyone who had assumed hourly workers would use their leverage in the jobs market to continue to prioritize flexibility.

The reality is that flexible work has changed since coming out of the pandemic, and there is an appetite for the stability a dependable income provides. The side hustle stereotype no longer applies. Plenty of people use it to offset the cost of vacations and increased expenditures, but clearly, people are craving the predictability that comes from more routine work schedules.

Hourly workers have become accustomed to having scheduling choices. If they want a long-term relationship with a single business, they must find a way to marry flexibility with stability. I call this doing flexible work the right way. It requires building a relationship with employers where the worker and the business benefit from the new arrangement.

Flexibility and Stability Can Be Win-Win

The higher cost of living is only part of the story behind the trend toward hourly workers seeking more stable work. I am seeing a real hunger among people to return to the pre-pandemic "normal" with more predictability in their schedule. This trend aligns with the growing recognition that workers need stability in an era of constant change.

Companies that employ hourly workers need to adjust, too. Industries like hospitality and light industrial can benefit from offering hourly workers the option for work schedule stability. This allows workers to learn a business and reassures the business they can dial their staffing up or down according to customer demand, ensuring smooth operations. With that in mind, we educate businesses that longer-term relationships eliminate the need for urgent training and excessive overtime shifts and make staffing much more efficient. Remember, if people have been with a business for at least a month, they already know the floor or how to serve the customers.

For workers, there are many opportunities to work flexibly and help businesses consistently meet demand. In hospitality, a recent survey found that while 59% of hotels offer greater flexibility to address an industry-wide staffing shortage, 72% still cannot fill open positions. Workers wanting a longer-term commitment with a current employer should intentionally build a relationship with that business. But for those still looking, technology needs to be your first reference point.

Leverage Technology to Your Benefit

Flexible work apps, like Instawork (my company), use AI to take a worker's profile, including their skills and reviews, and match them with a business's needs, making for an excellent starting point for the relationship. The latest data tools even take into account the advantages of a potential match — such as proximity to the business location and transportation preferences — so that both parties hit the ground running. Workers can start with the following tips that should apply to any flexible work app — not just my company's.

• Create a detailed profile on a platform to showcase your qualifications, preferences, and desire for steady work.

• Opt in to notifications about new shifts and opportunities that match your skills and location, and prioritize companies that promote regular, ongoing work opportunities.

• Utilize app features that provide transparency into pay and potential earnings for different roles to see if they meet your longer-term income goals.

Once you have identified an opportunity, or if you already work for a company with consistent staffing needs, it's time to be proactive. Learn more about the business and ask questions that show you have been thinking deeply about your responsibilities during onboarding, training, and orientation sessions. Then, keep managers up to date with your availability so your commitment to regular work is top of mind.

Finally, raise your hand and take on additional responsibilities to demonstrate your positive attitude and enthusiasm for long-term work. All these steps are aimed at putting your best foot forward. The key is to prove your reliability and commitment to the businesses you work with. Those qualities can turn a one-off shift into a long-term opportunity.

Adapt Financial Goals to the New Flex

The hourly worker still doesn't enjoy the same degree of stability as the salaried employee. In that sense, nothing changes. You need to know the range of your ideal hourly wage and the number of hours you want to work per week. Those parameters are helpful whether you are looking for one-off opportunities or longer-term connections.

We are also heading into the busy summer travel season, and many people on our platform (and others) are setting goals for vacations and how much it will cost to get there. That underscores the need to set financial goals tied to specific outcomes, such as large purchases and repaying debt, to keep you motivated as you accumulate shifts and savings. Also, don't forget to regularly reevaluate your goals because longer-term engagements may even change your priorities.

Going Back to the Future

"The number-one thing people are craving right now is stability — especially in their workplaces," one organizational psychologist recently told the American Psychological Association. There is still heat in the gig economy, but people now want flexible work with some of the advantages we all took for granted before the world turned upside-down.

For hourly workers, long-term engagements promise to bring back some of the routine and stability we have been missing. Now is the chance to build these relationships to show businesses you are worth the investment.