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.

Comments

It ISN"T a real, primary job people...

[cayenne8]

Ok...please get this...UBER is not a real job, not a primary source of income.

Gig work is a synonym with 1099 contracting.

There are plenty of us out here (especially in IT) that make very good livings doing contract work (I call each contract I have a 'gig').

Let's face it. If you are going to go this route, you need to put on your big boy pants, and think like an adult.

If you find a contract, and can negotiate a bill rate that will cover you wages, your insurance, your retirement and give you time to take off (no work hours no pay, remember?)...then you are working a gig that can be a primary source of income.

If you are working a contract that does not give you this type of bill rate, you either figure "this is not my customer", or you are doing this just as some side money to supplment your "real job" which mostly likely could be a W2 job.

But please, lets not get the govt to throw out the baby with the bathwater, MANY people for many years, have enjoyed working 1099. You are your own boss. You decide where your retirement investments are going. YOU decide what and how much insurance you need.

To do this on a full time basis, you have to be and adult, now how to budget, put money aside for periods between contracts (sometimes you may want to take a month off)....

But please...lets keep in mind, all these people are adults, and they can and should make their own decision and live with the consequences of such.

Re:It ISN"T a real, primary job people...

[fightinfilipino]

To do this on a full time basis, you have to be and adult, now how to budget, put money aside for periods between contracts (sometimes you may want to take a month off)....

But please...lets keep in mind, all these people are adults, and they can and should make their own decision and live with the consequences of such.

the problem is that economic conditions are now forcing people to MAKE this their full time job. and severe cuts to healthcare and the general safety net are tightening the screws, not to mention the steamroller of automation coming down the pike. 1099 work might have been fine at one point, but it is NOW becoming a capitalists' wet dream and a regular worker's worst nightmare.

Re:It ISN"T a real, primary job people...

[goombah99]

It's a rabbit hole. Sure you and some other's moonlight and fine. But for other's it's a job without benefits. Interestingly this is how employment used to be in the early 1900s and was exactly how unions came into being. Train workers were gig workers. They worked when called, and the rest of the time flopped in the company owned hotels along the line, drinking up their paychecks at the company saloon. They might not find connecting work that returned them home to families for weeks at a time. Safety declined both because workers were dissolute but also because of high turnover and the cadre of people willing to accept the conditions of wages wasn't the best. The Unions entered not so much for good wages but to create reliable work, assurances of return home, closing of saloons, and safe working conditions. Train owners resisted but were eventually persuaded by improved on-time and fewer accidents. As the unions grew they gained the power to strike across the industry and fought for wages and job security that assured the job was somethign one could do for a career not just in one's youth with no responisbilities. It made the job livable.

So yes moonlighting is a time honored way for industrious people to get ahead. But when a whole industry is based on it, it is not healthy for the nation.

Alternative-factoid Newspeak

[Anonymous Coward]

The Gig economy will double in four years

I.e. there will be a whole lot more unemployment in 4 years than today, and most of you won't find another job and will be forced to scrimp by on whatever money you can make doing odd jobs, cleaning toilets, driving for uber, or wiping the ass of the 1%. Enjoy your new world order.

Let's redfine the gig economy...

[__aaclcg7560]

One of the most insightful comment in "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki was when Rich Dad said: "Why climb the corporate ladder when you can own it?"

If you're working for a corporation and expect the corporation to make you rich, you're doing it wrong.

A corporate job should pay the bills while you nurture a side business that will eventually replace your income from the corporate job. Work as an owner, not an employee.

Re:Let's redfine the gig economy...

[fluffernutter]

Well GAWSH, start a million dollar company, why didn't I think of that?? That's one of those things that is easy to say but almost impossible to do.

Re:Let's redfine the gig economy...

[Dorianny]

One of the most insightful comment in "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki was when Rich Dad said: "Why climb the corporate ladder when you can own it?"

If you're working for a corporation and expect the corporation to make you rich, you're doing it wrong.

A corporate job should pay the bills while you nurture a side business that will eventually replace your income from the corporate job. Work as an owner, not an employee.

If you believe your "side business" can compete with people that quit their corporate jobs to commit completely to their business, then you are completely delusional. Even most people that dedicate themselves to their new business will unfortunately end up seeing it fail. Unless of course by "side business" you mean "rich daddy" buying a successful small business for you to play with

The Problem

[American AC in Paris]

America, unlike a lot of the rest of the first world, has tied most of the social safety net--retirement, insurance, etc-to private employers instead of the state for the past few decades.

Setting aside any discussion of whether this is a good or bad way to do things, a dramatic shift from a employer-based workforce to a gig-based workforce without a commensurate redirection of the safety net is cause for considerable concern.

The gig economy doesn't pay well enough to make up the difference in lost benefits for the worker. That's one of the big reasons employers like it--it's a lot cheaper. This is gonna kick us in the teeth as a country as gig workers start to age, get hurt, get sick, and need care.