An analysis of key themes in the 2016 edition of Mary Meeker's annual Internet Trends report.

1. Mary Meeker Internet Trends 2016 –
What it tells us about the freelance economy without
saying it!
-Chandrika Pasricha
Fonder & CEO, Flexing ItTM

2. INTRODUCTION
The 2015 edition of the Internet Trends Report published by Mary
Meeker/Kleiner Perkins had a full section on how technology was
impacting jobs rapidly.
More specifically, it spoke about how the freelance economy was
burgeoning with 34 percent of the US workforce already engaged in some
nature of freelance work and how this was set to grow.
As a founder of a start-up that operates in the on-demand talent
space, I was keen to see if the 2016 report talked about these trends
further. While there was no direct reference to the jobs and skills space, the
trends the report highlighted ‑ how the internet is being consumed and what
in particular millennials prefer ‑ does have some material takeaways for all
of us that cater to them as consumers. The big themes I took away were:

3. #1: Easy growth of the past two to three
decades is now behind us.
Global GDP is growing at a slower rate than the 20-year average. Populations are
growing more slowly and are aging.
The big jump in internet penetration from 35 million (1995) to over three billion has taken
place and the next increase will be harder.
The implication is that job creation will therefore be harder than it was and risks
underlying business and growth will continue to be high.
Both these were trends that contributed to the faster growth in the freelance and
independent working space post the recession of 2008 ‑ along with the desire for
professionals for greater flexibility ‑ and this pattern or growth means that the desire for
businesses to keep more costs variable and leverage on-demand skills is not
likely to abate in a hurry.

4. #2: Millennials, now the largest segment of
the US population(27 %) will drive
businesses.
Successive surveys have shown the millennials value flexibility and
learning much higher than compensation growth when they evaluate work
opportunities. This has in fact driven even large traditional consulting firms like
PwC to launch their own marketplace to attract millennial talent, which is opting
to work independently.
We therefore believe firmly that as the millennial generation accounts for an ever-
increasing proportion of the workforce over the next couple of decades, many
more organisations will need to offer flexibility as a core part of their career path
to attract top talent.
Flexibility and the open talent economy will be a new front in the war
for talent.

5. In 2000, E-commerce retail sales was less than two percent of total US retail sales.
However, it reached 10 percent in 15 years. A direct implication of this is that several
new internet brands/retailers are reaching their first 100 million in sales in
less than five years, while it took Nike 14 years and Lululemon nine years to reach that
milestone.
Extrapolating this trend to jobs and freelancing, we believe that technology will enable
businesses that create trust to increasingly replace personal networks as a
source of finding new clients and projects.
As more professionals look for flexible and project-based
opportunities and an increasing number of enterprises seek
on-demand talent, curated marketplaces can be a great
platform for discovery for both sides, efficient matching
and clearing.
#3 Internet as a distribution channel
is helping build businesses faster
than ever before.

6. “
In Q1 2016, Snapchat recorded close to 10 billion views per day of user shared videos, and this
number was probably high for Facebook. In fact, image-based discovery platforms are
increasingly becoming avenues for shopping decisions.
Also, messaging platforms (WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, WeChat) are not only growing
rapidly, but transitioning to enable business conversations too from just social communications.
So what does this development mean for professionals skills and jobs? We believe that referral
and communities will matter increasingly. Thus, technology-based business will need to figure out
how to incorporate these attributes in order to be successful.
Historically, job boards have been one-way sources of information with limited opportunities for
engagement. This will need to change if they are to remain relevant. Especially in the
emerging freelance space, we believe that creating a community that engages and
contributes will be key to success.
#4 Communication and use of
social platforms are becoming
more visual and community driven.

7. The push towards a more flexible, independent way of
working is here to stay driven by technology, economic
uncertainty, and the expectations of those entering the workforce.
Also, the internet and technology will enable us to connect a lot
more professionals to projects than ever before and move from
offline to online faster ‑ but building a trusted brand will be the key.
And finally, leveraging the community will be even more
significant to grow and get more user engagement.
Summary

8. Thanks!
Any questions?
Leave us a comment at info@flexingit.com