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Taylor Swift, Peak 2024 and Land Use – Yes, They All Connect

by | Jul 30, 2024 | Logistics, Retail

Taylor Swift

Just About Everything Affects the Future of Work

Quick: How are Taylor Swift, Peak 2024 and changing land use alike?

All three affect the future of work, future sales and supply chain disruption.

For decades, retail and eCommerce sellers have adjusted for peak holiday shopping seasons. They order more inventory, add staff and plan distribution operations. While in London recently, I realized that Taylor Swift concerts have become peak events, disrupting working conditions, supply and demand.

Likewise, eCommerce has transformed factories and farmland into warehouses. 8-to-5 assembly jobs, growing crops or cattle are no longer viable careers. In those locations, natives who want to stick around now pursue jobs in distribution centers or careers in logistics and supply chain.

Clearly, the reinvention of work involves more than hybrid, remote and virtual offices.

So, in order of popular interest, let’s talk Swifties, Peak 2024 and changing land use.

How Taylor Swift Changes Everything

I realized how Taylor Swift affects the future of work during a recent cruise with my wife Shari. Mothers and daughters who saw Swift’s Eras tour in London filled our flight back home.

That’s because Swift performed three concerts in London in June, with another four scheduled next month. While we were there, the London newspapers explained the Swift effect.

Massive numbers of gig workers used their insight to anticipate her impact. The workers temporarily moved to Great Britain’s capital city. They rented Airbnbs, Ubered Swifties around London and made a killing.

You see, Taylor Swift concerts cascade demand signals through the economy. Uber, Airbnb, hotels, everybody in the entertainment industry reacts. That rush affects their living and working conditions.

But today’s era is unlike any others: Many of these gig workers have a choice. (And I’m talking about era as a period of time, not making a pun about the name of Swift’s concert series!)

They could have stayed where they were. Instead, they chose to follow and meet the demands of the Swifties.

Taylor Swift’s mere presence is a peak event. Singapore’s government reportedly paid Swift millions of dollars to not tour other Southeast Asian countries. Swift’s Eras tour played exclusively in Singapore

Wherever she goes, Taylor Swift is Peak 2024. Unless her appeal falls off a precipice, future tours will be Peak 2025, Peak 2026 …

Beyond the obvious, she creates demand for short-term rentals and transportation, affecting logistics and supply chain.

Peak events affect how everything works. Those Uber drivers showed great anticipation. Business and supply chain leaders could use such insights to deal with Peak 2024.

Peak 2024 Requires Anticipation and Optionality

For decades, peak events have affected logistics and supply chain. Mostly, these involve increased shopping for seasons or holidays. The Peak 2024 holiday season is coming up.

Retailers and eCommerce sellers already are worrying about balancing excess stock with making sure they can fulfill demand. Like last year, they don’t know how many workers to hire to fill the guaranteed upsurge in demand.

That’s where the Uberization of labor can help.

Before Uber, nobody used the term “gig work.” Perhaps a part-time worker could find “gigs” every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon or every other weekend. But the bosses controlled the time, manner and conditions of work.

Now, those people decide when and where they will work. They’re just like the Uber drivers who descended on London in June – and will do so again for five more Swift shows at Wembley Stadium in August.

Today’s workers might Uber or Lyft on the weekend. Work in a flower shop during Valentine’s Day. Serve in a bar or restaurant another couple of nights.

In areas rife with warehouses, Peak 2024 offers them the chance to pick up full-time hours for eCommerce holiday sales and returns. That offers you the chance to match their optionality with your potential needs.

But you likely don’t know how many full- or part-timers to hire to staff your logistics operations. Turn to labor on demand services.

Companies like Task4Pros help you scale labor up to meet increased demand or down when demand declines. Unlike temp agencies, this new breed of company delivers employees who come ready to work. They don’t arrive at your warehouse waiting to be trained. And as W2 employees, they minimize the risk of co-employment and worker misclassification lawsuits.

At this point, nobody can predict what labor you will need next month, in October, in November. You need optionality. Use that insight, anticipate that fluctuations will happen and connect with the right labor services company now.

Because the future of work has changed not just for gig workers, but for gig employers, too.

How Land Use Changes Opportunities

The future of work also changes how peak holiday seasons affect rural areas, like central Pennsylvania.

In decades past, kids grew up to work in nearby farms and factories. Now, they look and see warehouses. If they want to stay near home, they work in those warehouses or pursue careers in logistics and supply chain.

Land use changes alter workforce composition. And that workforce has optionality far beyond previous generations.

For example, dairy farming workdays are tied to when cows need milking. You have to pick, pack and ship tomatoes at harvest time, not when you want to work.

These days, many couples don’t want full-time jobs. They might have two children or three grandchildren. So, one spouse might do a half-job, the other 1.5 jobs.

Or one person does three jobs – the flower shop, bars and driving mentioned above. As I’ve written before, gig work has even hit the executive set.

In central Pennsylvania, Peak 2024 offers those gig workers more options. Then, once November, December and January end, they go back to their previous jobs.

Gig working is in for these people.

Embracing the New Era of Work

Everything from Taylor Swift to Peak 2024 holiday demands to changing land use are changing the future of work.

Such shifts create challenges and opportunities for businesses, workers and supply chains. If you embrace flexible labor solutions and anticipate demand fluctuations, your business can thrive in this new landscape.

I’d love to hear how you’re preparing your organization for Peak 2024. Connect and let’s discuss the new era of work. And, if you want, we can talk about Swift’s Eras tour, too.

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