Can Blockchain Build Balance to the Work Industry?

• Toshendra Kumar Sharma
• December 19, 2018

The job market has been increasingly difficult to break into especially for new graduates and women. The rise of large corporations has given employers too much control over the lives of their employees. Additionally, several analyses have concluded that a woman earns 80 cents for every dollar a man earns. Needless to say, this kind of growth isn’t sustainable in the long run and requires a systemic reworking that blockchains can provide. Here are some of the key ways in which blockchains can help create a more inclusive and egalitarian work industry.

Blockchain-Based ID for Employers and Employees

New graduates with little to no experience of the workplace often find it difficult to find their first break. They are expected to submit their personal information to their employers, including all degrees and certifications and also pass several background checks. By comparison, employers don’t have to share any background information from their end. Websites like Glassdoor allow employees to anonymously review companies that they’ve worked at but the quality of these reviews is suspect as there is no way to ascertain the identities of the reviewers. Blockchains can help remedy this situation by using unique private keys for both employees and employers so that employees can review companies in an authentic way while also staying anonymous. This allows for the pool of new candidates to select companies with good work-life balance so that they are not exploited. Such a service also creates incentives for companies to treat their employees better in order to attract the best candidates.

The Rise of Freelance Work

Freelance work throughout the world is growing rapidly as more employees choose to make their own hours. Employers benefit in this arrangement as they do not have to maintain office space, complete with office supplies, utilities, and employee benefits. The value of freelance work across the world is estimated to be at over $1.4 trillion and growing at a quick pace. Freelance workers get the added benefit of making their own hours and if they have responsibilities at home, they can easily be managed alongside freelance work. Blockchains can be a balancing force in the freelance work industry as both freelance workers and employers have trouble establishing trust. Since there aren’t many established guidelines for freelance work arrangements, freelance workers could find themselves struggling to get paid on time. On the flip side, employers also suffer from the problem of not receiving work from workers on time and they have no recourse to take in the event. Blockchains can solve this problem by automating the system of assessment and payments to remove the subjective human element from the equation. Blockchain smart contracts can be set up so that they have deadlines built into them to ensure that work is delivered on time. Web-based proofreading can be used as a preliminary check to finalize payments so that payments are also made on time.

Women in Blockchain

In the last two decades, women have made great strides in almost all fields, but especially in the fields of internet and technology. However, the same is not true with the current blockchain space. According to a recent study by Forbes, women account for less than 7% of all cryptocurrency users. Emerging blockchain organizations are looking to remedy this situation by focusing on women users and leaders. Blockchains allow for people to take full control of their assets and transactions by eliminating the middlemen, so it’s only natural that women can benefit from blockchains. Blockchains can be used to facilitate banking services in areas where there is no infrastructure for banks. In rural areas, women have very limited access to banks so blockchains can help these women access loan services without the need to jump through regulatory red tape.