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The Gig Economy Keeps Growing, But Worker Benefits Aren't (technologyreview.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from MIT Technology Review: According to a new report out from Brookings, the number of non-employer firms -- primarily incorporated freelancers and gig-economy workers -- has grown 2.6 percent every year since 1997. By contrast, payroll employment has grown by only 0.8 percent annually in that time. That means a growing number of people lack employer-sponsored benefits like paid leave, health care, and retirement assistance. The Aspen Institute has proposed a system of portable benefits that are not tied to one job. Companies would make contributions to a worker's benefits on the basis of how much the employee works for them. To date, the U.S. government has not been helpful. House and Senate bills supporting gig-worker benefits have died in committee. But state and local governments are taking action. Washington, California, New York, and New Jersey are exploring avenues to provide benefits to their gig workers.
Everyone thinks they deserve something for nothing. Premium benefits, unlimited time off, first class insurance. All paid for by someone else. Look, if you're driving people around from point A to point B, or answering customer complain calls for a living, you aren't doing something that's worth those kind of benefits. Sucks, but it's true. Improve your skills, become marketable, hoist yourself up by your own petards, and join the economy as a maker and not a taker.