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??
