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The future of work is as bleak as it is glamorized. The flexibility and variety of the “gig economy” sometimes do facilitate creativity and freedom. At the same time, the decline of the permanent full-time job and rising costs mean that young people entering the workforce will have less security and wealth than previous generations.

An estimated 1.9 million Canadians work as freelancers, and that number is expected to go up a lot in the next decade. Simultaneously, youth unemployment has risen precipitously, while automation promises to further erode entry-level jobs.

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Creativity and freedom can be exciting. Financial insecurity, cutthroat competition for low-paying jobs and rising costs? Less fun.

What is to be done?

Millions of people around the world are asking the same questions, and answers are beginning to emerge. At Transform Montreal, a two-day conference at the end of April, we’ve invited the entrepreneurs behind some of the most innovative responses to the gig economy to Concordia University’s downtown campus to share their experiences.