Its effects are already being felt in financial services, with the advent of robo-advisers in wealth management, online-only banks and peer-to-peer funding. This technological disruption is also blurring lines across sectors and industries, a development that is especially relevant to financial services. The use of common technologies and platforms is bringing global industries closer together and changing the competitive landscape.The new players include fintech and insurtech companies as well as disruptors in other industries. In Asia, for example, Tesla has partnered with established insurers to offer a vehicle package featuring customised motor insurance that accounts for its vehicles' autopilot safety features as well as maintenance costs. As it moves toward fully autonomous vehicles, Tesla is in a unique position to compete with property and casualty insurers in cases where traditional insurers are not willing to lower the risk premium1.

We are clearly shifting to an increasingly borderless workforce in the form of the networks of people who make a living that is dependent on a specific company but work without any formal employment agreement with said company. Every company's value chain consists not just of its own employees but millions of others including gig workers, contingent workers, partner employees and more. There is a greater need today than ever before to redefine an organization's systems to embrace this outer core. We are also dealing with increased human longevity which is creating new challenges of living and working that will require greater flexibility than ever before. Employees need the ability to go in and out of the traditional employee lifecycle, moving from the usual part-time and full-time arrangements to more fluid ones that allow them the flexibility of committing more sporadically while also making time for family, reskilling, the pursuit of a purpose or personal passion, and so on.

Today an increasing number of workers are veering off the time-honored career path of joining an employer, rising through the ranks and staying for decades. Some are freelancing by choice, relishing the opportunity to set their own schedules, choose their assignments and work independently. Others have turned to contingent work out of economic necessity. Freelancing has long been commonplace in professions ranging from writing, editing and design to many skilled trades, real estate appraisal and even fitness training. Statistics do not always provide a clear picture of the contingent workforce because of the variety of working arrangements that are possible.

From the increasing use of contingent freelance workers to the growing role of robotics and smart machines, the corporate workforce is changing--radically and rapidly. These changes are no longer simply a distraction; they are now actively disrupting labor markets and the economy. Three years ago, Deloitte introduced the concept of the open talent economy, predicting that new labor models--on and off the balance sheet--would become increasingly important sources of talent.2 Granted, respondents to this year's survey rated workforce management the least important of the trends we explored. At an even more basic level, companies are struggling to understand who (and what) their workforces are composed of and how to manage today's incredibly diverse combination of worker types.