Does Jobs without Boundaries within the Gig Economy a Paradox?

Abstract

"The idea that individuals take ownership of their personal growth and, as a result, take control of improving their job competences has been a major tenet of proponents of what is known as the boundaryless professional view. In this provocative article, we discuss the barriers to and possible solutions for advancing boundaryless professions in the gig economy, which, although initially seeming to provide favourable circumstances for such occupations, is plagued by several variables that make these professions difficult. Therefore, it’s possible that professions without boundaries exist in the gig economy. Specifically, we hypothesise that gig workers’ employability is restricted by the acquisition of pertinent professional competences that are hindered by intra- and interorganizational career barriers. We then propose that, to reduce these limitations, we should think about eschewing employer-centric, conventional HRM methods and introducing new, network-based, self-organized HRM actions (in the form of collaborative communities of practice)."