The technological advances, globalization, increased education and change of economy have not only caused massive change to the workforce but also to the way we work today. Fierce competitions have forced many businesses to go for 24×7 operations. To reduce operation costs, some businesses have to outsource their non-core businesses to specialist providers while some choose to bring in specialists only on per project basis to reduce the need for permanent and full-time staff.

The need for efficiency, speed, mobility, flexibility and specialized skills has caused an emerging breed of new and extraordinary professionals to meet the demand. These groups of professionals are highly knowledgeable, creative, innovative and tech savvy. They are independent, flexible in their working time and place and adaptable to the constant changing business environment.

In the first part of the post, we will look at some of the new breeds of professionals who emerge to satisfy the technology driven and ever-changing business environment.

1. Flexi-Professionals
The first group is called the Flexi-professionals. They are very particular about flexibility in their work schedule and workplace because of their personal or family commitment. They are welcomed by businesses that only want occasional but specialized help in their businesses but could not afford full-time staff.

Flexi-professionals are excellent resources when businesses are tight in manpower. For example, they are greatly demanded during peak periods like festive seasons, new product launch or implementation of new projects.

They can be engaged on per project or contract basis. It is common for professionals like freelancers, contractors, consultants and advisors to fall under this category.

They are highly independent, specialized and adaptable as they need to work in different work environments and cultures.

Flexi-professionals enjoy the flexibility of time and work but unfortunately, they are normally not entitled to the same benefits as full-time staff such as insurance and health benefits.

2. Webpreneurs
The second group is known as Webpreneurs, they are highly tech-savvy entrepreneurs who operate web based enterprise or business online. More and more people are now turning to become webpreneur because of the ease of setting business online; another reason is due to the negative impact of the economic downturn. People are taking proactive approach to create jobs for themselves than waiting for jobs.

Thanks to information technologies, there are now plenty of opportunities offered online. Webpreneurs found that the job opportunities are no longer limited to their own countries but can be found globally. For example, selling affiliate products, setting ecommerce store, becoming a virtual assistants, selling unused product at eBay and etc. There are many untapped niches and opportunities online if one know the ways to do it.

Webpreneurs enjoy the flexibility to work where and when they wish as long as there is internet connection. Some Webpreneurs may have a team of people working with them but may not have met all their colleagues face-to-face as they are virtual team. Their teammates may come from different countries and time zone but have no problem working together remotely and virtually.

This is the beauty of being a webpreneur as it crosses the boundaries of space, time and culture.

3. Home Entrepreneur
The third group is known as home entrepreneurs. There are many factors that caused the emergence of home entrepreneurs. The main driver is the technological advancement which makes starting a business a breeze nowadays. Another main contributing factor is the inability to find similar job after laid off. So instead of joining the mad competition of job hunting, most prefer to take control under their own hands by creating jobs for themselves. They either sell their services back to their previous employers or to their competitors.

Unlike the other two professionals, home entrepreneurs have no bosses to report to so they have to very self discipline and independent. They need to work smarter than the rest as their success depend on how well they could work. They are thrived in multi-tasking and time management as time is money to them. They are also high energy, persistent and tech savvy.

Successful home entrepreneur know how to plan their time well, their shared goal is to have a good work-life balance and enjoy the flexibility without compromising on work quality and family concerns. However, there are some prefer to integrate work into their life as they enjoy what they are doing every day.

Working as a home entrepreneur can be quite lonely at time but smart home entrepreneurs should know how to leverage technology to network with their community online.

4. Lifestyle Entrepreneur
The next group is called lifestyle entrepreneurs; they are professionals who seek to make a living around their lifestyles. Unlike the rest, they do not work mainly for money; their work mission is either for personal or social cause. In short, they are motivated by lifestyle not money.

They prefer to work when and where they want or even who they want. Their main goal is to gain independence and personal freedom. Compare with other new breed of professionals, lifestyle entrepreneurs are not so ambitious to build a business empire for their businesses. However, there are still some lifestyle entrepreneurs who have found success in their businesses but their number one priority is still their personal life.

Not all economies favor lifestyle entrepreneurs because they are considered as laid-back business owners who are not aggressive enough for economic growth. Most of them just earned enough to survive and they are just happy with them. If a country is looking for exponential growth, this may not a good news to its economy.

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The above are some of the new breed of professionals who are found in the new economy, be sure to keep an eye on next week’s post where there are more new emerging professionals covered. If you have come across any new and interesting breed of professionals, please share it with us at the comments below.

Related posts:

1. The New Breed of Professionals in the 21st Century (Part 2)