Perceptions on protection building agile workforce solutions

The traditional model of a job for life with one single employer is no longer the only valid career path. New technology is creating more opportunities for self-employment and a “gig economy ,” meaning people have greater freedom to change jobs and move from location to location.

However, while workers’ flexibility increases, they are also more prone to gaps when it comes to job and income security. At the same time, arrangements that have provided safety nets and financial protection have failed to keep up with changes in how people work.

Therefore, it is important to gain insights into the ways real people are evolving and coping with the new realities that affect not just individuals in the workforce, but society as a whole.

Working people around the world are worried they will be poorer than expected when they retire. The young are as anxious about their financial futures as their parents, but women are the most vulnerable as they are least likely to have pensions and insurance policies to protect them.

These are among the findings of a major new study, “Perceptions on protection: Surveying workers to build new agile solutions, ” by Zurich Insurance Group and the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford. The report is based on a representative sample of the working population in 15 countries on five continents. Almost 17,000 individuals aged 20 to 70 took part in the survey.

The findings from a survey of more than 1,000 U.S. workers are outlined in the report.