Are You part of the Gig Economy?

I heard a story on NPR, Weekend Edition Sunday this weekend-- How Gig Economy Workers Make A Living.  A gig economy is an environment in which temporary positions are common and organizations contract with independent workers for short-term engagements. One of the most-hyped changes to the U.S. labor market has been companies that use smartphone apps to connect workers to gig jobs. The most prominent example of this phenomenon is Uber. Stocksy is another example--it is a cooperative, owned and governed by the photographers who contribute their work. 

The trend toward a gig economy has begun. A study by Intuit predicted that by 2020, 40 percent of American workers would be independent contractors. In this digital age, the workforce is increasingly mobile and work can increasingly be done from anywhere, so that job and location are not as closely tied, meaning freelancers can select among temporary jobs and projects around the world, while employers can select the best individuals for specific projects from a larger pool than that available in any given area.  The sharing economy is also a great fit for people in retirement.  They have assets and skills that were accumulated over a period of their careers and now they can offer them at their convenience, working as much or as little as they want.

Between 2012 and 2015, just 0.4 percent of adults earned income consistently each month using online labor platforms like Uber, the JPMorgan Chase Institute found. Most gig workers supplemented lost income during periods of low earnings or when they were between jobs. As of September 2015, more than 80 percent of workers who used online labor platforms made less than 25 percent of their total income from that work. But over the three years JPMorgan Chase performed its study, the percentage of adults who earned money regularly from online gigs grew tenfold. And the growth of gigs extends beyond online platforms.

In March, researchers at Harvard and Princeton found that from 2005 to 2015, the percentage of workers in "alternative work arrangements," defined as online and offline temporary, on-call, freelance and contract work, went up 50 percent, to 15.8 percent of all workers. That accounts for all the net employment growth in the U.S. economy in that time.

Pretty interesting. What do you think??