In today's gig economy, fleeting ties can be valuable to the career of the gig worker
Fashion models exemplify independent contractors in a fast-paced market that is marked by stiff competition, global mobility and high turnover.
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It’s not what you know, it’s who you know, or so the saying goes. Few would refute this or the fact that networking can boost our careers. In fact, networking can take us to places we can hardly imagine.
However, in the age of the fast-paced, non-standard gig economy that relies heavily on temporary positions, we need a new frame to understand networking. Even before the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted work as we know it and accelerated the rise of the gig economy, work had been transforming towards shorter-term, non-standard arrangements like independent contracting and freelancing.
In the creative industries, where the value of the practitioner’s work is not easily defined and consumer demand is typically uncertain, jobs are frequently on a contractual and precarious per-project basis. Fashion models, film directors, musicians, editors, graphic designers and the like have been taking on gigs even before the term was popularised. Today, independent contracting is common in both white and pink-collar industries, and even in high-status fields like entertainment and information technology.
Social network analysis of the creative industries can produce interesting insights about networks today. A creative practitioner’s network can bolster reputation and name recognition, just like how theatre actors benefit from sharing the stage with a celebrity. In addition to status signalling, networks are a source of camaraderie and communal support to professionals in more precarious employment. Indeed, anthropologists found sharing to be a common social response to precarious conditions.
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