The Future of Prostitution

Dear Impossible Readers,

Today, we can lease almost anything. Cars, phones, the internet. In Sweden, some people technically lease their homes because the principal is cheaper than rent. There are even stores that let you lease outfits for a weekend. Soon, we might not just lease miscellaneous items. We will lease human beings. Our time, our knowledge, our expertise. We will all be employed by the same shark. A global brothel that rents out human intelligence by the hour. Consulting companies started this trend decades ago, when they realised selling advice was more scalable than selling products. They just did not realise they were inventing the prototype for the labour economy of the future.

It is a dream come true. No more job hopping, messy resignations, or “What animal would you be?” interviews. Your career becomes a subscription service. Companies only pay what they need. Why carry the overhead of full-time employees when you can stream talent like a Netflix show? Experts can pick exciting projects, avoid office politics, and potentially earn more by keeping themselves in constant, well-paid motion. Some people already live like this. Think freelancers, consultants, and independent specialists.

The infrastructure for renting people already exists. AI matching systems pair specialists with projects faster than any recruiter. Remote work tools make geography irrelevant. HR algorithms predict skills demand before the company even knows it. To the system, we are just a bundle of skills. A few keywords, performance metrics, and a rating. From an economic perspective, it is efficient. Why keep experts idle when they can be continuously leased? Why build a team when you can assemble one on demand?

When the dream is over, the nightmares start creeping in. When your worth is updated in real time, your future becomes more unpredictable. When everything is rentable, we stop belonging to ourselves. In a world where expertise is rented and scarce, access does not come cheaply. It comes at auction. Companies will have to bid for top talent, and the highest bidder usually wins. Start-ups and underfunded companies might never get the experts they need, no matter how innovative or deserving they are. Meanwhile, deep-pocketed corporations will dominate the most critical skill markets, creating a winner-takes-all dynamic. While the Goliath streams the premium content, David gets the ad-filled low-resolution version.

The future of work is your profile in a basket, ready for checkout. It is not so different from what we have always done. Just upgraded with personal branding, sharper suits, and cloud-based scheduling. We are all learning to sell ourselves more elegantly.

To cheap thrills and expensive regrets,
Yours Possibly