被定义为短期按需就业的零工经济正在经历快速增长。但并非零工经济中所有的员工都是生来平等的，而且他们的年龄、经历和技能各不相同。自由职业者的大量供应催生出了一个虚拟的买方市场，可以让雇主在全球范围内搜寻顶级人才。

Toptal便是一家在虚拟人才市场经营的平台公司，成立于2010年，可以提供丰富的自由软件开发人员、设计师、金融专家和项目经理，从而满足初创企业和现有公司的按需聘用需求。然而，Toptal的首席执行官塔索·杜·瓦尔对《财富》杂志的记者苏西·加里布说，零工经济和“人才经济”之间有着明显的区别。

杜·瓦尔表示：“零工经济涉及面向低技能劳工的临时工作，[而人才经济]则涉及面向高技能劳工的长期工作。”

那么，各大公司如何在遥远的人才海洋中辨别顶级人才？Toptal每个月会收到数千份希望加入平台的个人申请。公司随后会使用评估候选人语言能力、技能知识和测试项目的流程对其进行筛选，通常获得通过的不到3%。

像Slack和Zoom这样的现有沟通工具让远程办公变得越发可行和实用，而且大型公司正在利用这些技术与全球劳动力互动。

远程办公还会促进纯数字化初创企业的崛起。杜·瓦尔表示：“最近收购的公司GitLab便拥有了近1000名全职雇员，而且所有员工都是远程办公。WordPress母公司、虚拟公司Automatic拥有约800名远程办公的全职员工。”

零工经济的规模巨大，而且能够为顶级人才和聘请这些人才的创新公司带来众多颇有前途的机遇。（财富中文网）

译者：冯丰

审校：夏林

The gig economy, defined as short-term on-demand employment, is growing at rapid speed. But not all workers in the gig economy are created equal; they vary in age, experience, and skill set. The large supply of freelance workers fuels a virtual buyer’s market for employers seeking top talent from all over the world.

Toptal is one platform that operates in the virtual talent market. The company was founded in 2010, and provides a network of freelance software developers, designers, finance experts, and project managers available for on-demand hire at startups and established companies. But there’s a clear distinction between the gig economy and the “talent economy,” Toptal CEO Taso Du Val tells Susie Gharib of Fortune.

“The gig economy is temporary work that’s low-skilled labor [whereas the talent economy] is about long-term work and high-skilled labor,” says Du Val.

So, how can companies distinguish top talent in a sea of remote workers? Of the thousands of applications Toptal receives each month from individuals wanting to be listed on its platform; typically fewer than 3% are accepted based on a screening process that evaluates a candidate’s language competency, technical knowledge, and test projects.

Existing tools such as Slack and Zoom are making remote work more possible and practical, and large companies are adopting these technologies to interact with a global workforce.

Remote work is also giving rise to startup companies that are totally digital. “GitLab, a company that was recently acquired, is approaching 1,000 full-time employees, and 100% of them are remote. Automatic, the virtual company that owns WordPress, has approximately 800 full-time employees working remotely,” says Du Val.

The gig economy is massive, with promising opportunities for top talent and the innovative companies that hire them.