Does workshifting spell the demise of society as we know it? Are virtual companies an invitation to sweatshops and child labor violations? Will the rise in outsourcing, freelancing, and cloud labor lead to dirty bombs and political repression? Will the pay-per-click mentality become the basis for all human interaction?

No, I haven't been drinking the Kool Aid--but based on an article in Newsweek last week, I think someone there has. In an article titled Work in the New Digital Sweatshops, the author, Johanthan Zittrain (a Harvard University law professor), all but accuses Elance and LiveOps (a 16,000 person all-virtual call center) of using the workshifting model to exploit workers:

"...online contracting circumvents a range of labor laws and practices, found in most developed countries, that govern worker protections, minimum wage, health and retirement benefits, child labor, and so forth."

He asserts that Amazon's Mechanical Turk project could lead to all manner of evil:

"People can also be enlisted to do work without any idea for whom they're working or why. You might synthesize a new chemical that winds up being used as a poison or in a bomb. Iran's leaders could ask Turkers to cross-reference the faces of the nation's 72 million citizens with those of photographed demonstrators. Based on Mechanical Turk's current rates, Repression 2.0 would cost a mere $17,000 per protester."

And he conjectures that the growth of the web will mean the demise of honest human relationships:

"If labor can be summoned and directed from afar, fewer and fewer interactions will remain untainted by those seeking to influence their outcomes. I see a park of the future, its visitors staring into small screens, clicking or talking away. One puts the finishing touches on a $10,000 challenge answer. Another casually asks three friends to see a movie with him that evening, not because he wants to, but because he'll earn a $10 commission. A third is picking up a penny for counting how many others are there, not sure why or to whom it matters. We might miss the days when we went to the park just to have fun."

I suppose the man's entitled to his opinion. Who knows, maybe the chicken-little slant was the product of the editorial process. But if Newsweek is going to drag the names of innovative companies like LiveOps, Amazon, CrowdFlower, Elance, and InnoCentive through the mud, they ought to offer a bit more than just made-up scenarios. Through my workshifting research, I've come to know two of the accused quite well and the article's accusations couldn't be farther from the truth.

If employment conditions are so oppressive, why is LiveOps inundated with job applicants--hiring only one in a hundred of those who apply? Why do over 100,000 freelancers use Elance? Because virtual jobs allow people to work when and how much they want. In fact, two-thirds of Americans say they want to work from home and over a third would happily take a pay cut to do so.

Far from the doomsday prognostications offered by the article, virtual employment offers a relatively simple, inexpensive solution to some of the world's most vexing problems. It reduces greenhouse gases and fuel usage. It improves work-life balance. It saves companies and individuals money. It helps address the special needs of disabled workers, rural residents, retirees, and military families. It reduces traffic and the strain on our transportation infrastructure. And it helps ensure continuity of operations in the event of a disaster or pandemic.

Is life different because of workshifting? Of course it is, but I think it's a change for the better. How about you? What has workshifting done for your relationships? opportunities? working conditions?

Photo by: adinarvaez