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The Gig Economy Workforce Will Double In Four Years (recode.net)
The number of workers in the so-called gig economy will grow substantially in the coming years, according to a study by Intuit and Emergent Research. By 2021, the study finds, 9.2 million people are going to be working the frontline jobs at companies like Uber and Lyft. That number is projected to be 4.8 million this year. From a report: The rise in on-demand workers has been fueled largely by startups like Uber, TaskRabbit and Airbnb. It has also helped companies like Intuit, which makes tax software QuickBooks and TurboTax. The company's stock surged to an all-time high yesterday thanks to the gig economy. For context, there are currently more gig workers than people employed in the entire information sector (which includes publishing, telecommunication and data processing jobs) and IT services combined, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Also read: A recent piece on The New Yorker which talks about the lengths to which people are willing to go to survive in such jobs -- a horrifying culture that is often celebrated in those companies.
It will continue to rise steadily until all of a sudden, overnight, automated vehicles are approved and it crashes virtually overnight. People going into this sure as hell better have a backup plan.
Many countries and their lawyers disagree with you. Uber and similar slime aren't new or innovative in their employment, quite the opposite. Maybe not so much in the US, but in other more civilized nations they seek to strip away centuries of hard and painfully won employment rights.
The business community sells this as "being your boss" or "being in business for yourself" or whatever to sell you the idea of being an independent contractor.
Because that way they can pass on the overhead costs onto the worker as well as the business risk. See, most folks under the delusion that they'll work 40+ hours a week and there will plenty of work.
Nope.
I don't care what you do, there will be dry spells. Now, do these "gig" companies allow the worker to to work for other businesses as well at the same time? Nope.
They want you all to them lonesome selves and when the project is over, well it's out the door and tough shit if you aren't working and not getting paid. Not their problem: but god forbid if you take on a project during theirs.
See, the gig businesses want their cake and eat it too and not gain weight. They want a flexible workforce but aren't willing to compensate workers for it.
It's a raw deal for the worker. (If your are one of those lucky folks who have some sort of esoteric skilllset where you can get your $2,000/day - good for you. But the rest of us are lucky to get 30% above the market rate for salaried folks. Chump change. It should be 100%)
Oh! And health insurance. Even with Obamacare still around, getting insurance on your own still sucks.
And Uber. I have neighbor who is an Uber driver. He hates but does it because he's in his late 50s and software dev jobs just disappeared - for him. Too bad he doesn't have the skills: C#.NET - that's what they say in his rejection emails.
My point is that it is difficult to start a company (and therefore be an owner) and make more money then you could make as a worker. It is not nearly as easy as stated here. For everyone who starts a side company and succeeds, there are 100 that fail, and so it is not simply as easy as telling someone to own their company.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
Yes and in the mean time you are spending your time on useless endeavors instead of spending time with your kids growing up. I am one of those working on a side business. It works for me, but only just, and I wouldn't recommend it for everyone. It becomes very difficult to balance family life.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.