Guilds are organizations that provide a wide range of services for mobile workers, the kinds of services that employers have traditionally provided. SAG offers educational and professional-development seminars to its members, and, because many actors have relatively short careers, SAG also provides very generous pension benefits. New guilds could provide those services, among others. Clearly, significant changes are happening in the world of work. The information economy puts a premium on flexibility and adaptability.
Guilds provide a support structure that fits such an environment.
Certain organizations are already becoming guildlike. Staffing agencies such as Aquent, Kelly Services, and Manpower could evolve into guilds. The allusion is to the Hollywood movie, and the idea is that Aquent will be your career agent. Actually, I think some companies of the future will be guilds. Today, we think of a company as an organization that hires a bunch of people and that is primarily responsible for producing something that customers are willing to pay for.