Slashdot Mirror
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.
I've been a self employed contractor for over 25 years and I recall back in 90s that the IRS used to require that you did work for more than just one company when sub contracting work, otherwise you were considered an employee if you worked exclusively for one company despite having your own insurance and tools. I made sure to sub work from several companies until I finally became a real contractor and had my own customers. How do uber and the drivers get around this? They only work for one company. Uber could end up getting fined and having to pay FICA portions of the employees wages.
Did the rules change? Is the IRS selective in what industries they police?
Stay tuned! Same bat channel, same bat time