MIT Sloan Management Review Article on The Future of Work Is Through Workforce Ecosystems

Ask leaders today how they define their workforces, and you’ll immediately hear some version of “Well, that has become a very interesting question, and even more so recently.” Today’s workforces include not only employees, but also contractors, gig workers, professional service providers, application developers, crowdsourced contributors, and others.

Effectively managing a workforce comprising internal and external players in a way that is both aligned with an organization’s strategic goals and consistent with its values is now a critical business necessity. However, legacy management practices remain organized around an increasingly outdated employee-focused view of the workforce — that it consists of a group of hired employees performing work along linear career paths to create value for their organization.

About the Author

Elizabeth J. Altman (@lizaltman) is an assistant professor of management at the Manning School of Business at the University of Massachusetts Lowell and guest editor for the MIT Sloan Management Review Future of the Workforce Big Ideas research initiative.

David Kiron is editorial director of MIT Sloan Management Review and leads the publication’s Big Ideas program, a content platform examining macrotrends that are transforming the practice of management.

Jeff Schwartz (@jl_schwartz), a principal with Deloitte Consulting LLP, is the U.S. leader for the Future of Work and author of Work Disrupted. Schwartz is an adviser to senior business leaders at global companies focusing on workforce and business transformation. He is the global editor of the Deloitte “Global Human Capital Trends” report, which he started in 2011.

Robin Jones is a principal at Deloitte Consulting LLP with more than 20 years of organization and workforce transformation consulting experience. At Deloitte, Jones leads markets and services for Workforce Transformation, where she advises senior executives on strategy and execution of large-scale future-of-work initiatives.

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