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In a gig economy, temporary, flexible jobs are commonplace and companies tend toward hiring independent contractors and freelancers instead of full-time employees. A gig economy undermines the traditional economy of full-time workers who rarely change positions and instead focus on a lifetime career.
Features of Gig Economy
- The gig economy is based on flexible, temporary, or freelance jobs, often involving connecting with clients or customers through an online platform.
- The gig economy can benefit workers, businesses, and consumers by making work more adaptable to the needs of the moment and demand for flexible lifestyles.
- At the same time, the gig economy can have downsides due to the erosion of traditional economic relationships between workers, businesses, and clients.
- Those who don’t engage in using technological services such as the Internet tend to be left behind by the benefits of the gig economy.
- Cities tend to have the most highly developed services and are the most entrenched in the gig economy.
- There is a wide range of positions that fall into the category of a gig. For example, adjunct and part-time professors are contracted employees as opposed to tenured or tenure-track professors.
Gig Workers
- Traditional workers have a long-term employer-employee relationship in which the worker is paid by the hour or year, earning a wage or salary.
- Outside of that arrangement, work tends to be temporary or project-based; workers are hired to complete a particular task or for a certain period of time.
- In some cases, they have an employer, but the company that pays them is different than the one at which they work.
- These types of arrangements are often called alternative or nonstandard work arrangements, and may include freelancing, temp agency work, self-employment, and subcontracted work.
- Not only may workers lack protection and fair pay, but the roles aren’t as flexible as they seem, as workers may be incentivized or pressured to work when the companies need them.
- On top of that, workers may not be paid benefits such as holiday or sick pay, and reports suggest some aren’t making minimum wage.
Source:
Investopedia
