The Weekly Independent: December 5, 2016

Staying on top of your field means staying ahead of the biggest news stories. That’s why each week we bring you The Weekly Independent, a quick-hit digest of news of note from around the web.

• As we prepare for 2017, consider these 5 ways to keep your skills and knowledge current in an ever-changing work market. Professional development can give you a leg up on your competition.
• CEO Gene Zaino spoke with Forbes this week about how to fix gig work. As the independent workforce grows, the government, companies, and even platforms themselves are increasingly struggling with how to manage this ever-changing and fast-growing population. Zaino spoke about his (and MBO Partners’) vision for the future, including what he believes are novel ways of transacting business and ensuring client-contractor compliance.
• Several new surveys about the independent workforce were released in the past few weeks, including ones from EY, the Federal Reserve Board, JP Morgan and Upwork. 2016 has certainly been “the year of the independent workforce study,” and we expect this trend to continue into 2017.
• SpendMatters’ Andrew Karpie covers what he’s thankful for in a pre-Thanksgiving (but still very relevant) post. He also gives a prediction for 2017, stating “new, highly efficient, technology-enabled ways of accessing and engaging talent have arrived and are ready for prime-time.” We’re excited about that, particularly as MBO’s marketplace continues to evolve and make waves in the marketplace.
• National Law Review examines and dives into the new Freelancer Wage Protection Bill in New York City.
• Salon.com discusses a new bill that has been drafted by gig work platform Handy in its home state of New York, that would establish a system whereby participating companies would pay the equivalent of 2.5 percent of a workers’ income into health savings accounts. In return, the employee would enter into an agreement that virtually forces them to accept their classification as an IC.
• Drivers for Lyft are on the verge of a large class action suit in California.
• These are the secrets of the world’s most productive people.
• UK freelancers could be saving more, The Telegraph states. The article details different qualified tax deductions for self-employed workers.
• Theresa May is quickly realizing that managing the UK’s self-employed population is harder than she first anticipated. Ministers admit privately that the Treasury is “spooked” by the implications for tax revenue. The rise in self-employment calls into question the traditional role of employers as tax collectors for the state.

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