HowAmerica's NewIndependent Workers AreTransforming the WayWe Live

DANIELH. PINK

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A TimeWarner ComPanY Contents

PnoLocur.I

WntoltrroFnrr Acut Nmol

CHnprtnI . Bye,Bye, Orgonizotion Guy I

CHnerrn2. HowMony Are There? TheNumbers ond Nuonces of FreeAgency 2/

CHeprtn3. HowDid lt Hoppen? TheFour Ingredients of Free Agency 47

PlnTwo ht FnnAerwWm

Creprrn4. TheNew WorkEthic 59

CHnprtn5. TheNew EmploymentControct 85

Creprrn6. TheNew TimeClock 103 ltt uo,rotrnprJoarnrnr ",lr pro l.J.:;*ri**0,

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Chortond Operoting System 143 Crepren18. A ChipOff the Old Voting Bloc: TheNew Politicsof FreeAgency 287 ,]9. Creprrn WhotsLeft: , ond Cooches l7l FreeAgency ond the Future of Commerce, Coreers,ond CommuniiY 301 t83 EprLoourJl3

Norrs3ll ApprNorx:RrsuLts or rlr FnreAorNt NmoN ONiNrCrNsus. 339 FreeAgent Avenue: AcrNowLrocntNrs345 , Toxes,ond Zoning t99 lNorx34l

, ondthe nizedLobor 213

theNew Old Age 233

fie Futureof Educotion3ll Bye,Bye, Organization Guy 2r

delegation of doomsaYers, free MrsrAKxN PRxMrsEs their status and, PerhaPs more lm- 1. Loyaltyis dead.Last decade'sblaze of downsizing,this about how people should be- decade'sdot-com layoffs, and the end of lifetime se- operate.and how economiestan curity have eroded loyalty in the workplace,right? Not it or excoriate it, Free Agent quire.In l-reeAgent Nation, loyaltyisn't dead.ICs dif- fiction writer William Gibson I'erent.Instead of the up-and-down loyalty that runs ; it's just not evenly distributed." from an individual to an institution, free agentspractice itself more evenly,it is uPending a new side-to-sideloyalty-a fierce allegianceto clients, aboutwork and life in America. colleagues,ex-colleagues, teams, , projects, and industries. In someways, loyalty is stronger than ever. Pnrutses 2. The workforceis adrifi, operating without a broad,soci.al con- of our lives, premisesare the tract. Tite, the implicit deal that reigned in like the pipesor wiring that the Organization Man's day has disappeared.But a new they determine the caPabilities one has emerged,the animating bargain of free agency of its performance. Stick with in which individuals trade talent for opportunity. it's aboutto get slightly weird. Imag- crept into your home while You ). The bestmeasure of economicsuccess is growth.The tradi- your electrical sYstemwith solar tional view is that a larger companywith higher profits is the concrete foundation and more successfulthan a smaller companywith lower prof- thev also decided that Your second its. But theseeconomics don't necessarilyapply to free i basketballcourt-so they redid the agents.Bigger isn't better.Better is better.As millions of floor and a hoop. When You free agentsdecide that staying small is preferableto house might look outwardlY like growing big, they are redefining the very notion of suc- colonial you deParted two weeks CCSS. got is a solar-Powered, mobile And that will aflect both the possi- 4. Thefree agent economymakes workers less secure. Some- manse. times. But as many free agentsfashion a diversified port- odd architecturalinterlopers' Qui- folio of multiple clients,customers, and projects,they and remodeledthe stmctureson often find themselvesmlre secxrethan traditional em- and economic house is built. It's ployees. premisesand first principles-that impact. It has alreadYbegun 5. Parentsmust try to balanceuork andfamily. For much of assumptionsabout contemPorary the past two decades,middle-class Americans have struggled to balancework and family. Corporations have respondedwith so-calledfamily-friendly initiatives and 'fuEssJlJu luaBeear; pa8:eq::ad sr JJnllnf uoultuoJ sr aa:8ap a8s11o:u raqleq,t{ pue fuoslnduo: aq plnoqs aqr puP rJ3lrqr qtoq uo Surlooq:s 1euro; raqraqn Sutuotlsanb ul8aq o1 sue: 'sanlu sxuvDnploNpuz luoduoy .ZI -rlaurv eJoru r:adxa puy A u^{o ttaqt qlllr lualsls -uol puu srxJel u^{o ll3ql uo uaJPIIqr lI3ql Iooqls-Jruoq ',{uro tua8u aa.r;aqt aleu ot Surtdo sJllr.upJssplJ-Jlpprtu Jlorrl:o3 q.lte71 aJ{ purqJqa::o3 3ur -uo:e tuaSe aa{ aqt ot sa^leslxaql pardepz tseal e^?q 'efrr3urv ueqt sseJrz3 3ur-ra11eur slooqJs uI suollnlnsul eql lluJo 3lloJ)llo,{r qt pooSt,ua:e asoql '8ur lsuolreJ s roJ suonnlos tsr:oy,(21 a,ro:durt ,{11elueua:rur u3ruo,{puv 'llo^4.JEII{uts traqr rzqt sr suounlos uoltelnpa tsour qltlt uralqo:d uturu 'haouon 'Jfuelelanr aqlto suotlts aql puv sr .{epot syooq:s ul sIsIJf uleru alf,l ' 'auqfutnp 'sptopuDls '3u4sa7 u?paruasa4'at-taao an uaw I I sno.n7u a"routpuv laq8r4 u1 -pq '8 W!.n pa"uo(at aq u'DJlDql sxsu?D u2 st uoNlvtnpa J?Iqnd is:a,(oldrua '&rag ,(1unadsa-anuttuoJ Jlue 'a8u ppoqs .{q11 :r3o1leroru ErxpueJC1se tsnf plo Mau B Surlua,rutarz slua8e 'tq8ru peuur(uapun puB luJpllfe aar3 tuaruarltal aqr olur {pua8 3uro3;o puats 'alqerlsap u3 s,lr 'sr alqnolr rqJ -uI isuuJrrarrrv;apyo {uuru loJ ssaluouuaru '(ressa:au a,rg-,{txts Japun su€JIJJUTV ot lou ssall.lSurszar:ut sI uouou 3I{l uaqrlt rqt sf srql Lafuldwa ,{112r:ads+-a:ntxUftntuar-ts.rU-{tuar"q e 3Qlt plnoqs '0[ 'uotterraqe 's,{t,tr t1.tqtvB ot tt18nosuDruauv .{q1,1 hntuar-qtarluaru e ,{uuruur 'sr luerrrJrrlJd 'a1.qA"r--41lUOm uanA JO-nnoIf suDJuauY'I 'e1do:d l,uz: no,{tnq a8uel 'f,ltuntuuto: nol 'alo34o,u lua8e aa:3 auIJ3peJpuz eJlTIEItros 'Surzruoled pue alqeq8nzl areldryo,nplrnqar ot sdno:8 11erussnorua8ut 3o ,{ele ue ',{e,r,r 'ruaru.ramodurale sldrualle peruroJJ^eq slua8eaar; lnq ,uausrql 3ut1'to,r'r.3o1st: '{7auo7 ,(q Lepor .n'rod aurnua8e sr uollelosl puo palo1onato talool talom 113 'g quzllr?tsJopaau s[?npI^Ip pa1qo!wql Sugsslu\raqrom o1ospuo stnauat{a4uanruts t suorlzzruefuo'{utouo:a sI 'aJuBIuq r aqt ol lI Jo auos Surluer8 lar{{suull3rll uauo lou '8urpua1g eqf sploq uorlezlus;ro aql (1rrue;puz {rom u)r,4rtJqfuepunoq eql )mi) tuaqt 'suorldrunsse pJ,4ieUuo o1 lpsoru sr uoltnlos eqt rog :aqtaSorle l:e Sutlue 'salrlqnJ sfrlf,ul assql lng -1eqaqr paddens pue q:eo:dde lu3raJ;lp u ualler a^uq 'JJloJIrom .rraqrSuqqnopa.r aJe suolt sru:8e:a:.; ,{ueu {qr'ns.leql a6 srrl ozr5,{4 pzaq saadolduraaJoru sv B roJ suortnlosllV slU azISruo r{}o ,{aq1;1q.,11 ,(tarxue aptotltoc nt (Saptls aqt pJler^all?l,ue^?q suo:u3peuollualul-lla^{ asaqllng '6 'a,rea1 puo ua4tom,,8uuano{ug, ,(1ure;Sunepueur s,trey passed a,lzq sluaruura,ro9 NOtlvNrNlcv 33ul 2z Bye,Bye, Organization Guy z 3 "Empowering" "retain" lawsmandating familY leave. 9. uorkers and trying to them is a wise effortshaven't alleviatedthe strateg!for corporatemanagers at talent-staraed,companies. One SizeFits All solutionsfor a As more employeeshead for the exits, more organiza- . That'swhy many liee agents tions are redoubling their efforts to keep them in their and scrappedthe bal- cubicles.But thesetactics tend to fail becausethey rest "Empowerment" them, the solution is mostlYto on flawed assumptions. implies that work and family. Blending' the organizationholds the power,and is generously answer, granting some of it to the individual. But in a free agent economy,organizations need individuals more than in- solnuorhtrs, missingthat fabled dividualsneed organizations.("Hey, I think I'll em- anil lonely.Isolationis a genuine power GM today by showingup for work.") Corporate free agentshave formed attempts at empowerment,consequently, are both way,but "retention." groupsto rebuild workPlace laughableand patronizing. Ditto for With a free agent workforce,you can inspire people and chal- communlty. "retain" lengepeople, but you can't them. want to--retire. is, aberration.Why I 0. Americansought to get their healthinsurance through an -centuryfi xture-€sPeciallY empktyerThis is the standardarrangement lbr most lessnecessary not to Americansunder sixty-fivewho have . for manyolder Americans?ln- The troubleis, it's an arrangementbuilt on a historic the retirement night, free accidentand underpinnedby almostno economicor insur- newold age.Just ask Grandma moral logic. Why should employer-basedhealth ancecontinue-especially when f'ewerof us will haue employers? crisisthat can be repaired'uith hct- and,more rigorous disciPline. I I . Men are ouenepresented,in the workforceand in the top po- today is irrelevance.And the sitionsof theeconomy. Women still earn lessthan men for is that theY similar work. And women still face a stubborn glassceil- educationsolutions 'Ihose Thyloristsolutions for a Thilorist ing. aren'tgood things,but they might end up in America, schools mattering far lessthan some think. Women are a driv- to the free agent econ- ing force behind free agency,and could possiblydomi- . familiesopting to nate the free agent economy. on their own terms and con- And expect more Amerl- 12. Rampantindiaidualism is fraying our socialfabric. Critics whether formal schooling on both the left and the right agreeon one thing: Our and whether a college degree ts common culture is corroding. And they argue that a hy- perchargedfree agent economy,with its fleeting rela- 'EJaUEI^I uonezruE'ro aql 3o alrsoddg qol puortrpz.rtz3o ur.rogrunaql 8urtdaf,tr?Jo psatsul lFs ol sa^rJIroM Jlaql uoIqsEJ 'uoprnpord sseurjo poqlaur .{e,11 'ursrJold€J Jo tu"puaJsap s.luetsaa.g .tll usuoltDl:0I01 lll

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commitments,only speedsthe agencymay have the opposite x bonds,it will mend them. In- @ ity, it will repair it. Instead of III CIUI: In the secondhalfofthe twentiethcentury, the keyto bottom,it will trigger a scram- @ understandingAmerica's social and economiclife wasthe "art half century, The of association"-gen- OrganizationMan. In the first of the twenty-first "own independent by ones interest rightly U the new emblematicfigure is the free agent-the de Tocouevillenoted on his t worker who operateson his or her own terms, untethered to a iesago is alive and well in large organization,serving multiple clients and customers +" insteadof a single boss.The rise of free agencyshatters many ironclad prernisesabout work, life, and businessin America- the basicassumDtions of Amer- from how companiesshould operate, to how we structureour health care,retirement, and educationsystems, to which tectonicplates slide into new po- guide lives.To truly understand the new economy, surfacewill begin to changeas well. values our New ones will arise in their you must first understand the free agent. paradigm shifts and digital revolu- IIt ll0I0lD: The largestprivate employer in the U.S.is not S&P 500 and collapsein the NAS- Detroit's General Motors or Ford, or even Seattle'sMicrosoft of this Internet millionaire and or Amazon,com,but Milwaukee'sManpower Inc., a temp dot-comimplosion, we havebeen agency.

"This economy. III 0U0II: book is aboutthe freeagent. Ifthe term is vague,it is becauseI can think of no other way to describethe people I am talking about. They are free from the bonds of a large institution, and agentsof their own futures.They are the new archetypesofwork in America."

lnt f0l0: Tdiloism.The free agent'sapproach to work; descendantof Taylorism,Frederick Wnslow Thylor'sOne Best Way method of massproduction. Under Thilorism, free agents fashion their work lives to suit their own needsand desires- insteadof acceptingthe uniform values,rules, and structure of a traditionaljob. Opposite of the One Size!-its All ethic of the Organization Man era. (Synonym:M1 Siu Fi/sMel

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cheaP, hous- "Nctscape economic adolescence; Illt 0U0It: was fbrmed in 1994. It went public in 1995. halflife of prosperity; the shrinking Ancl by 1999, it was gone, purchased by America Online and four ingredients combined-when subsumed into A()Ls operation. Lif'e span: four years. Half- they cooked ilied the other,and when life: nvo,vears. \!hs Netscape a company----or was it really a independent resultwas 33 million project? l)oes the distinction even matter?" what do we know about how work and lives?What's going on tn- III t0nD: Digital Marxism. 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seven-hundred-member :s ofJ.P Morgan-includes links x and start-up companies along with @ workers Norwegian cake, and other fhvorites IIt CIUI: Instead of laboring in loneliness,independent Another potent cluster of ex- @ are inventing an arra,v of small groups. Free Agent Nation Broads, an alumni associationof (l'.A.N.) Clubs are clustels ol {ree agents u'ho meet regularly Goldman Sachs,whose headquar- u to exchange business advice and offer personal support. City address85 Broad Street.And, E Con{ederations arc informal work collaborations of free -Corporatealumni.com-to agents. llntreprenetworks are groups of small cntrepreneurs or start your own. ts rvho pav a fee to participate in facilitated brainstorming and prevalent in the high-tech world, strategvsessions. Alumni associationsare groups of people intense and fiee agency is the reign- whose common boncl is that they graduated not from the AXLE (the Association of eX-Lotus same college, but from the same company. llecause most of roots, Compaq Computer employees), and these groups are self-organized and arise from the grass Prodigy, and Netscape. Even though thev've eluded much notice. And they challenge the critics in nearbycubicles, and olten live rvho claim that community is collapsing and that independent in united-a high-tech diaspora. workers are speeding its demise. Cornmunity isn't dead in Symantec, a California computer Free Agent Nation. It's different. , to go solo, and who asked that I "The Illt tlCI0lD: One of the earliest self-organizedclusters of free best: nice part of working at agents-Benjamin Franklin's Junto, f

Clubs, con{-cderalions, entre- "F.A.N. Illt 0UOIt: (llubs are one part board of directors, another ionsis one of the mc'stimpor- part group therapy They combine the search for clients with y in America's independent the quest for meaning, the urge for authenticity with the need groups call into question thc -I'hey for sociabilit,v. emerge from self-interest, but endure social ties or fiactures comrnunity, through trust." agency is merely redefining those art of association" is no less robust in IIE f0lD: Confederation.A regrlar collaboration between liee itwas in the nineteenth. liee agents agentsakin to a law or accounting partnership-but in which re not going it alone. In Chapter the relationshipsare fluid and the structure is set by an disappeared;it hassimply changed informal agreement rather than a legal contract, The sameis tme for community. In itv isn'tdead. ICs different. ,. aJnllnJls tuaur.{o1drua,{:ntuar-qtartua,rrllurrddr aqt uEqt arnleu uewnq ot pJunltB eJotu aq-tq8nu rsnl-lq8ru ,{:ua8e JJ{ teqt uosEJJJuo sr slq-L )iurql J,r.uoq sr-l;1e.ratr1-tzq1 raqtou" auo o1 s,{e,uqted qsa.rj 3urde1 dlluetsuo: 'suouJeuuoJ Sur8ro3arpuu Sur8ro3,{llenurtuor JJEseuo,rau pue suornau Surlsrxa 'sureJqrno uI ureJq uerunq eql salquesaJ lr ueql ssal l.rzq: uouezrueS:o leuourpzll z salqueseJ u€qC 3:g tua8y Ja{ aqt 'esuas srqt uI .rauotsnf, s,^Lolrotuol Jq plnoJ lolrpluo.rqns s.,{epo1 .rJqloup uo ssoq rnol 'prng aq plno: rrafb:d auo uo raad lno I€lrqJJEJalqssel s,tr s.tr asnereq puy plng sr t:eq3 316; rua8y ae:tr eq1-i, :tI0n0 tp

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Mark Granovetter'sclassic study of discovered that most PeoPle found that in roughlY ltve out of were people with whom thejob relationship and did not even

Org Chart is fluid. And becauseit's Your peer on one Project could be Today'ssubcontractor could be In this sense,the FreeAgent Org organization chart less than it brain. In our brains, existing neurons forging and reforging laying fresh pathways to one another' we think. This is one reason that free more attuned to human twentieth-centuryemPloYment TheFree Agent Infrastructure r 5 9

post oflice boxes to more than States.Founded in 1980, it is now x quarter million people check their @ IHt CtUI: An economic infrastructure has emerged to provide a King,quoted at the beginntng Janna @ foundation for free agents' work. Composed of copy and the breeze. Like other com- shoot printing shops,coffee shops,bookstores, executive suites, the infraslruclurc,MBE is bubblinguP U Internet, office supply suPerstores, postal sen'ice centers, and locations,it's growing faster than g overnight delivery scn ices,this new infrastructure has two decades.loMBE and its coun- two defining attributes.First, it is self-organizedrather than Agent Natlon. Free $r centrallv planned- Second, the infrastmcture ser-vesa "'fhird fundamentally social role by creating a variety of PlcmctDruvrnY Places" rvhere independent rvorkers can come together IIE ]lCf0lD: B,v2002, home officeswill spend $10.2 billion on FxPresshare suth as Federal Internet access. speedofa giant corporation FedEx "Everybody a criticalpart of horvall brrsinc's Iilt 0U0It: knorvsthat Starbuckssenes a decent, if of the free agent work stYle. Some pricel, cup of coffee. But what far f'el'er people realize is that have their own FedEx accounts And Starbucks is not in the retail beverage industry. It's really in campaign is Pursuing home-based the commercial real estate business. For me, and for many ity.Irs ads plav up the camaradcrle other independent workers, these coffeehouses have become the housebound {iee agent de- free agent of}jce (enters." "Signs being. by Donna.Delivered "FedEx 'fhe copybelow that reads, Ilf t t0l0: Feeeagent infrastrLLcture. physical foundation on 'Ilte pickup and delivery people They're rvhich the fiee agent economv operates. infrastructure is and count on." The ad rings true tor self-organizedand composed of private establishments. FedExguy) is the onlY Personout- ace-which might saYmore about infrastructure. laq aJs ol Jsnoq s.Jaqlou e^r ruql ralppor lno bUITI{. auoq lno I pue rxolx s,arqdog rI ro8 I uaql 'ure8e pruserqdog ,, ,{ur-3utuor1:ungl€u se,\{qJIq^{ uJet 'd1aq 'a8pnq rurar-rroqs JrJrp paau leql st:alord ro suJU qlt,r sJqJo,l! rsnfeqg t,uprparqdog tng 'oyua{ tuapuadapur seqrt"ru tzrp dtrrua uV ayo.r.o(to3:0lgt lfll ,, Jlaqt r^rrp II.3^r 'uralqoro 'qza^,, s.13'I'etrI-IJo rJH ou ., sassz18toqs go ,\\oJeqt tnoqtrM sJapuatreq ruaqledur,G 'Surq8nuy'arqdri5 pres 1,, ,.'ooooN,, pup 'stJEqJ,^,\oUJql tnoqlr,u sluetln\uoJ luau:Seueur ')^rr rTlls.tJulel A(lI DU? aUS 'saqJnotr eql tnoqttM slurJqs JJe saqreor'esuJs B uL, :ll0n0 I[l asnoq aql ruo{ allu P lnoqu Jaluao ,,'oB11,a,n pue irer rql ut ra8 s,le'I" 'stleJtuol tuauloldrua 'uroqlslu rno ol PIus I ,,{q O,, :raqt aleoo8au ot stua8z a,req,nourzal rad ggg'91$ prlual rrstll tu slua:zdpuerS 1ur.1 uBql eloru urea oq,ll sralroMJo tuarad 9 u?ql erot{ :0l0lCll llll p,am'tunuftua8e aag s,,{grue3,(ru (ru 's)\ll puv .laqtou sr aqqng :erq8nuP pup IJo^l JtJqt tnoqesuorls:nb ,(ddrs .laq uro.r; a:tn[ a8ue.lo 3o s8t,lts IElueruzpun3 eJoru Jausu€ stua8e aarj Surdlaq-tsarrd tred dog ,.'arrgo s.aqqnfl aas ol luu ^l lolesunof, raarer ued*a1or rarqsrnbs B elras sJqleor puv 'srausru lcuorsse3ord pue leuosrod uo tueqt esr^p€ pue JIBqeq rraqt uo aleuo8au 'srayo,u tuapuadepur ruasa.rdar laql 'slulBeJ ralpJ uoslllv- lEuonolua Puu llluouola Jqr elpPBJrs-sarelqtB PUB 'sJoqtnB 'sJolle , auoP4)oa auros la6 ol a/go ag paluasardar 3uo1 a,req teqt stuaSz tualel aqt 11oplotoal-aerytAu la6 lsnl PlncoM, all-srua8y ,{puaorjya eroru uru tqJpru tualel Meu eql alzur ,{qaraqt puz-stralord Surlaas 1uap1 lue8z ae{ q]r^,\lualel ',{:lsnpur lua8e aargSurlaas sradnq lrauuor 8ur-Uztsheroduat aql3o quror8tno ue 'srq€luqllet{ :po,r uone11 lua8y aa:g dlaq oq,u slsqeoads leuorssagordgo paarq Mau u paleeo J^zq safJo3o^\t aseqJ 'xaldruor dlleuortoura eJoru euotraq seq 'aa:3-,(qzuosrad 'puotras ryo,n pue urrupurnq Suraq -;o peatsur d 'lr at€)ollt puz 'arrrd 'azruz8ro ol pa8raura wq tqJzrrr tue1el llau E pue-erJnosa.r luu t.rodur tsour s,,{urouora aql se lzlrdzr t parelda: seq tualzt 's[Enpr^rpur ol suor]zzrue8ro uro.g paurqs m aaJl seq raalod se'lsld s,{e^{IetuauspunJ ont ut ,{urouora uz;41 tuo6v uorlezrueS.r11eqt uo{ sraflrp ,{ruouo:a tua8e aarj aqI :I0!! lll @ @x u NOTlVNINlCV llUl zer FreeAgent Families l9 3 ON

WallStreet lournal that he considered "one x family of the most hearten- in social evolution and cultural @ Illt CtUI: l-he industrial economy separated work and family' point as Nicholson, namely that o The free agent economy is rejoining them lnstead of back to the hunter-gathererband in balancing work and family-trading them off against each of us liveswith phYsicallYa great ux other-free agents are blending work and family This is one like how the human species evolved. g reason why both family-friendly corporate policies and and your contaclswith busincss government-mandated family leave, though well intentioned, ts have fallen short. They force people to balance instead of born to blend. helping them blend and impose One Size lits All solutions on a M1 Size Fits Ve wor lfon e. In lqsponse.[ree agentsare taking mattersinto their own handsand are returningus to work arrangements perhaps more consonant with human nature and our evolutionary heritage.

IllI ft0I0lll: Small to midsize family businessesaccount for about 60 percent of all the employment in the world'

'Again, IIt 0U0lt: free agent couplehood is nothing new' Before the industrial economy, spouses often worked together' Just as those small shopkeepers lived above the store, my family- with Dad s third-floor ofTice-lives belou the store And thanks to the Internet, Mom and Pop's operation doesn't have to be a mom-and-PoP oPeration."

IIE f0tD: Commutermaniagel Couples with children and traditional , whose lives seem to revolve entirely around the morning struggle to get to work, day care, and school- and the evening battle to return home and begin the process again the fbllowing day. (Antonym: DINJ couples-double income, no iobs) RoadblocksonFree Agent Avenue: Health Insurance, Taxes, and Zoning z | |

Angeles, a town where it seems half screenwriters,the city fathers x and artists working at home to @ WritersGuild compared this plan lIt CIUI: The United Statesoperates under a thicket of laws rcgimes that kept their creative @ designed for a time when most people held full-time, jobs lobbiedsuccessfully to block the reg- lifelong with a single employer-and free agency was an u exotic choice. These laws have outlived their usefulness, and to free from these t onfin- t are hampering the economy most in three areas: health insurance, taxes, and zoning. Employer-based health both deep meaning and a new move- made everyoneunique for thetr own ts insurance no longer makes sense because fewer of us have me after explaining how he had con- employers. This system,which began as a historical accident, "And marrying his wife. in this socr- is grounded in little economic or moral logic. And it is everfor peopleto realizetheir forcing many independent workers to go without insurance " while locking other workers into jobs they don't want But if that chance is thwarted, he becauseleaving would mean losing their coverage, harder than ever before-and that Meanwhile, the tax code punishes free agents by another political party i la Ross U.S. aresaying in this country,my fiee- making them pay twice the Social Security taxes of workers, preventing from fully deducting their . Nobody is going to dictate to me." other them health insurance premiums, and costing them time, money, and aggravation becauseof the sheer brain-melting complexity of the tax law. Finally, local zoning laws presume a clear boundary between work and home, and many impose severe restrictions-including outright prohibition-on home-based micropreneurs.

I[I flCI0lD: Tax complexiry according to a Stanford economist, costsmore than $100 billion in compliance, another $100 billion in tax evasion,and yet another $100 billion in "distortions from pursuing tax-advantaged investments." In "larger all, the costs of the federal are than the Defense Department, larger than Social Securiry perhaps as large as the combined budgets of the fifty states."

"Ifyou IIt 0U0II: have ajob and get your health insurance through vour employel be thankful. It was never supposed to be this way." (1wolrun u lou sr bua8e asr; tuq; 'eJrT lng uelrlaury ur luaurdole,rap eiult a^ellaq I leJ os JPell Jpeur e^,I ry Jo IJeq aql ruo{ s^orx ol ueqt Mollg Jo luo{ ur-suonoo jrols puE stgeueq ,,luauerurad,,go asrruord ,{|aJu 'elrq^{ueat\l'aurqleru a:oru l1:.reqs:a,{o1dur: -rr:q t ,{q para sarxrlaruosa:z sdu.relprzd-,,u.o1 su alerodro: eqt aprsurJlo ra11aqar.rbgl ' Jreql uo lr qelu ol eJlssp eql puB /r^es lurp le^orsrp auos &Irnrasul pue dra r pue tuopJa{ qJrq,tt ur ss^rl srql ur Paqrrls3p a^uq slJqlo sueerp 'ruaqr ',&qear 3o ede:spuel ,uau aqr rog srqt 'slJI-roMluapuadaput auos JoJ lur{^{s.reqJ spns ,{:ua8z aar r I Ptoct-/Aoluo sofJow eu,lsUq)- elo sJa)Jo,l,^ oq ut los atuos aaotl ol a oLtol 6wob at,an duqpwos s,!! !1,,

e0rg-;1e5 "{ oztu 'stua8e aar3.1o a:ttrerd a,rrlrnPordar t uoruueC sa^lesueqr IIIq IInJ aqt ,{ed sea{oldrua aqt jr 'SAAelS 'saa,{oldrua parredep ot elu?rnsuI qtlz:q Suuago enunuoJ ol m JOd dulal parrnbar ere srer(oldura qrrq,u.Sutrnp pou:d qtuoru -uaetq8ta )rlt urqlrMuroq PuBPJ^r))uo) PIIqJY rrgrqrusof :0[0t lIl @ @ gI x NOt-LVNINlCV llSl z.z TemDSlaves, , and the Riseof Self-OrganizedLabor 2 a 9 N leastable or most unlucky don't fall dual systemblocks the low road, but x want on the high road' It rcverthey @ Illt CIUI: Fiee agency,ofcourse, has a dark side. Some temp and the libertY of Bird. OnlY rn @ workers do ntind-numbing tasks for meager pay in awful to FreeAgent Nation' perhaps conditions. Others perform the same work fbr the same u companiesas emploYees,but are classifiedas temps and E denied health insurance and other benefits. While most of this is deplorable, these beleaguered workers account for only a +r portion of temps-and temps account for only a portion of liee agents. \Vhat's more, the source ol inequality in work todav is not between who's an employee and who's a free agent, but benleen who has skills that are in demand and who doesn't, benveen who can exercise bargaining power in the new -Ib talent market and who cannot. take on such challenges, "self-olganized several new worker organizations-a labor" movement-have emerged to rePresent these downtrodden rvorkers. The end result u'ill likely follow the path of professional sports: Independent workers will belong to a labor union to secure a floor, but many will have agents to negotrate mole lucrative, personalized agreements above that lloor'

I[t tlGI0l0: Aliican-Americans make up I I percent of the total workibrce.but 22 pert

"Temp I[[ 0U0II: slaves,as the narne suggests,are not planning their ascent of Maslow's hicrarchy of neetis or holding touchy- feely F.A.N. Club meetings to discussthe deeper meaning of the most Jent Maguire. lhr from it. The,v are among disgruntled workers in the U.S labor force."

I[E t0nD: Permatem\.Somebody who rvorks alongsidea traditional empkryee,doing the saurervork, but whose employer classilies him as a temp to avoid providing health insurance,a , and stock options. (Seealso, Temp 24-7 'A de{inition of pernatemP: kinder, gentler . . . euphemism 'indentured ") for sen'ant.' E-tirement:Free Agency and the NewOld Aqe 2 4 |

to becomea full-time staY-at-home a rcnuredprofessorshiP at a nearby x Ballentine has ruh a modest mtcro- @ TIE CnUI: In the Iiee agent future, fewer people will retire. More backof his home. Although he @ will e-tire. Instead of leaving the work world completely at age than twenry-fiveyears, he told me sixn-fir'e, they'll continue rvorking as free agents-hnding and is somethingI'll alwaYsdo." u executing rvork over the Internet. E-tirement is in many ways self-actualizingbaby boomers will demographically inevitable,the simple outcome of supply and back.As they begin reckoning E demand. As the gigantic baby boom generation ages,it rvill searchfor meaning will intensi$ ts create an ello!:nlous cadre of healthv, able, tech-savvy,self- can't satisfy.ManY will seek actualizingolder Americans.This supply of labor will arrive at Indeed, the greatest beneficiartes "ruorking plecisely the rnornent that the age" population is ions, which will hire free agent se- shrinking, sparking an intense clernandfor workers. working but who don't want to be to do good without sacrificing want Tllt tlCT0l0: When ltanklin Rooseveltestablished sixty-five as the -l'hose standarrlU.S. retirernent age, the averageAmerican life 't for everyone. who have 'lbda,v, be expectancy \\as sixtv-three. Iife expectangv is seventy- labor-the longshoreman, physical six and rising. be ready,mentally and phys- more "(let And by a certain age. even Ilt 0U0Tf: readv fbr the mother ofall windfalls: In the Recall the words of stop working. coming decades,baby boomers will inherit more than $10 old am a hundred and twentYYears trillion from their parents. Sure, they'll spend some of that BettY, out and come in." Grandma bounty on face lifts and relaxed fit srvimwear. But there'll be reaches120. But until then,exPect plentv left over to Iaunch a new as a senior soloist." o make retirement an aber- of life. I||I il010: E-tiretnent.A new stagein American u'orking life; working as a fiee agent alier age sixty-five-and using the global communications nenvork as the platform for obtaining and completing rvork. School'sOut: Free Agency and the Future of Education2 s 9

disProPur- J. StanleYfound a x of millionaires were free agents- 's SAf scores,the lrsslikelY @ Illt GtUI: In the free agent future, a host ofchanges will unschool to financial risk-taker and therefore m American society. Mass compulsory will give way to a variety of learning alternatives. Home schooling, perhaps u the most robust expression of free agent values outside the hot, conferenceindustry alreadY g workplace, will continue to boom. More free agent families fire as more people seek gatherings will go this route. And more free agents will offer their learn to make new connections and *- ser-vicesas itinerant tutors serving this population. High successfulexamPle is Fasl school as ve kno-w it will cease to exist-replaced and Coif"r"tt."t-r"miannual, Phantas- augmented by a variety of hands-on options, better attuned to nct- of models,menlors. loolr' atrd the free agent economy. And the self-teaching ethic learned in I a free agent medical consultant youth will continue into adulthood, diminishing the value of "I 8, said, can attend a conlerence college clegreesand upping the value of informal, self- there is a sort of Socraticin- directed learning arrangenlents. choose the mentor I will PaY atten- hour, or two hours, or day-whatever' IIt ttCI0l0: Forty percer]tof college studentsare now older than at their knee.and alsobe in a Pusi- twenty-five, Within a few years, the number of thirty-five-plus- challenge their assumPtlons' year-old college students will exceed the number of eighteen- ions,work uithin a grouP and nineteen-year

Iflt ilO10: TfuLnhsgiuingTurkq Model. The education model that predominated in the twentieth century Society placed kids in the oven of formal education for nvelve years, cooked them until thel werc donc. then servedthem to employersA few youngsters also received an additional four-year basting at a place called collcge. 'au inogo ' ' ' an11 os lDs oP lasAw 'saldnor xas-auresloJ sIJoM os[€ uonuu8rsaq aa11lsod aql n1 nal qtoa 'sJlI- o o^\t qtrM seruoq ,{1rurz3saqrDsap ur:e1 srql '(arr3yg dou euoP e^// sluauralols euoH/arrJIO Surtayeru u.ronlllo^{ 'alssoli ^uo IIeurS) OHOS 1aqz1 qtnuj ool luoa 'Jrrllo 'oHoH jNosN/8OU aqr Jo luepurf,sap v reH/arluo slll :0101 llll e^oq tPoP/ uosDeraL/l 1ia,4

,, paldruJJtul aq ol puz dtsso8 ol :alrl t.uop a,,u,{esa,u s8urql 'Puotbl4t1 Lro,r aqr op ot sJtrr-l;oa8y,uag asaql ot aruol daqt puy taPnP 1g,n I auos auros 'sqnll rytqf qllerq urof .{aqt depol se qrnur sdrqsroqrueru ,{nq 1qr.u. luo atoq uata 1,uop 's066I stua8e aarg aqt Jo srureJ al]rqnr eqt alrt ueqt s)pnqrels aulj sit/t glrj/i^ o1 astldlaiua Jo s.olury qrl JJoru to[ E Iool 1p,lrsa:e1d aserll uoq]E.ralur 'uosurgourW 'atu haa s,tagl asuotur arrribar teqt sr:alord uo san8zallor qlt^{ atzJ-ol -r)eJ 'ruortrs IroM ot pue (ts€rqe \) s.tq8ru rsel rnoqz lzq: ol ^u alD daH 1oar6 uaag 'rno Sueq or arqd e aq a8pol s11Erua8y aarg y,, 'ssaupnqottrw 11r,u :Il0n0 tlI ,1 lw Lo1uool ot deq u,! 6uru./ottr :NOSN/SOU 'luarrad PooC g1 punore sre^oq errgo 1errdft aq1 go aler ,{ruedn:r:roaqt pue 'slepqoq pue spua>leamul JopeJ '.tQ w)o\) eql 'pardnlo 'sef,r-llo's1sop lo t.uaJe suonetslJo^\ Jo 3o tua:rad aqr o tlslw l]lO/NS lo )saP q4 ,{ep1:on aqr Suunp tuaurour ua,rrB ,{uz ty :0l0ICll 'uDDupap llll NHO1 tua6oae4 V) 'a:rojryo,t luapuadapur '91 'efrf]o 'lerluaprsar 197 sn6ny lle8rel e roj sa:tds [ela: pus esodrndrllnur 'sarzds o zuoq le0qo? tstr) otur qdrour 11r,ns8urplnq ef,Ulo reMol lqdorr pue J^neJoqellof, ,{puzunuopard auolaq IIr,u saf,rl1o lzrlJaurruoC filsnpur luaure,rordrur aruoq eql ur tuooq E Surra88ut pue 'pJepuets auoq eql Jo asn pue u8rsep aqr 3urra11z aql aluof,eq [[rM sef,rl]o JrxoH al€lsa leal lerJJaruuro] puB lBrluaprsel 'urnt 'sal]auB^ qroq adeqsar IIIM ur aJrl]o Mau esaql 'Jtrns elnntrexe tred 'qnd ,{1puar-ljrred-,(rumuruoJ pue "{ oall 'se8po1 tuobv uorteroqellof, ro3 sareld s11g tuaSy aa.rgeq IIr^\ raqto qledALII aql 'IJo.\\ umop-speaq 'tarnb :oj sa:e1d 'soqzpl are,rrrd aq t l- Ilr!1Ju( ) sJ)UJo Jo sJlJuE^ \ JU ouu otur .r:tur;ds lll^i-rlt1EJM m oqtb u a:npord ot pepaau sraryo,lr s8urqt aqt esnoq o1 ,{psour stsrxa t,, !llnd qf,rq^{-arrlJo paqsloot Jr{r':rntrg rua8e ra{ aql ul :InlJ 1lI @ @x A\ N0llv N lNlcv ltul oLz "l" Puttinqthe in IPO:The Path Toward Free Agent Finance 2 a 5 N

freedomJovingindependent work- to outsiders.Besides, I'm not x scruffyguy in Montana daYtrad- @ IIE CnUl: In the free agent future, individuals will raise capital daughters.And we'd likely need @ the same way companies do today. They will borrow money a free agent division of kleb0 or sell stakes in their enterprise (equity). This will equivalentsof S-ls and all the u produce an array of new financial insttuments-such as F.A N. ic companiesmust file. Bonds (see below) and perhaps even Individual Public the details matter less than the s Offerings. from companies to individuals, so, ts The de- that provide capital. Iilt tlGI0lD: A 1998 Atthur Andersen study found that 47 For the alreadygripped our lives. percent of entrepreneurs had financed their businesseswith wealth have more of their credit cards, double the portion in 1993. Credit cards have rooms,bulls . In Americanliving surpassed comrnercial loans as the leading {inancing sportsteams. and Charlie mechanism instrument for small enterprises.

"Many IIt 0U0It: boxers already finance their by selling shares to investors. About one in ten pro hghters have syndicated financial backers, whose investments yield these investors a percentage of the boxer's earnings over a specihed time. Soloists willing to forgo some autonomy in exchange for an influx of cash that would allow them to prepare for bouts in their own professions might also go the way of the welterweight."

III il01D: FA.N. Bonds.A form of debt hnancing for free agents. A financial instrument more widely available than student loans but with lower interest rates than credit cards. To allow the market to flourish, a corporation, perhaps chartered by Congress but owned by shareholders, would buy F.A.N. Bonds and package them into securities-much as !-annie Mae does for lrome mortgages. (See also: Bowie Mae)

l I A chip Off the OldVoting Bloc: The New Politics of FreeAgency 2 e e

singlecoalition intact-in a sense, that could satisfy any political de- x a legacy of the New Deal. lbr De- o Iflt CtUI: In the free agent future, the path to the Oval Office will New Deal coalition of union @ run through the home office. America's independent citizensrras the rravto passleg- workers-the sleeping giant of American politics-will become more.With party affrliationwan- u an elecroral force. [-he1will help treate a successorto the -splitting voter now a common New Deal built on the new premises of the free agent is to assemblethe availablecorn- 3E economy. Ihis New liconomy Deal rvill make the individual iticaldemand, do it in realtime, F rather than the corporation the central mechanism for distributing health insurance and and for protecting lwasa masterof politics, iust-in-time worker rights. And it rvill an agenda of simpler taxes, name.Early in his presidency,he Promote iat microhnancing for welfare recipients, temp worker rights, and fr with an entirely Democraticcrrali- individual accounts for insurance iput together a rzrdicallydiflerent, to expand trade with the North I Iilt tlCI0lD: More than twice as many Anericans now consider He raisedthe minimum fent. big business a greater threat to the country than big labor, parts and refbrmed welfareby [ical according to a Gallup Poll. fll within the samemonth in 1996. "Most fookthe nail-biting finishes of some Ilt 0U0II: politicians remain obsessedwith groups that are bsidentClinton's political weakness. old and shrinking while ignoring a group that is young and ie of a new kind of politics-and if' booming. And when they do cast their eyes toward free fldenthad masteredit. l'he Beltway agents, Republicans see close-minded, modern-day Babbitts, "difficulties" fent's was akin to a se- antagonistic to government and greedy for profit, while parning that Dell carries only five Democrats seeoppressed'contingent' workers." predsuch information a sign of the 'ltre [anwhat it really was-a new way of IffE t0lD:7asr-in- time politics. political version ofjust-in-time ts strength. Moreover, the electrons manuldcturing. lnstead of building one coalition and keeping r-evenparty split in the U.S. House it together, the modern challenge of politics will be to I dead heat in the race lbr Prcsi- assemble the available comPonents to satisfy the current al conditionsfor just-in-time coali- political demand, do it in real time, and then move on to the rysysrem. next task. he just-in-time fi:atures of today's just-in-timepolitics. If any party at- eywill resist.Politicians will have to ue,candidate by candidate,election usesand feedsthis giant Iirst will be- rt the giant to be satisfiedIbr long.

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