Gig Economy

What Is The Gig Economy?

The gig economy refers to a labour market with jobs concluded on a short-term basis, freelance, or casual contracts, mainly driven and facilitated by digital platforms or apps. The gig economy is about individuals approaching their employers as independent contractors or freelancers who will provide their services only on a particular job basis, none of whom are employed by one employer full-time. Ridesharing and food delivery drivers are often called gig economy jobs, but you can also find freelance writers making a living, graphic designers, and online task performers alike.

Thus, this model brings flexibility and autonomy to the workers regarding the number of hours being worked and the time when work is carried out. Still, it lacks stability, benefits, and protections generally associated with traditional employment.

Among the hurdles that gig workers may encounter are unstable income, lack of health insurance or pension plans, job security issues, inadequacy of personal protection equipment, and absence of fairness in payment mechanisms. As the gig economy has placed its establishment pillars on the great innovation of digital technology, the number of its players has increased and the overall situation has become more complicated.

Example Of Gig Economy

There is a ride-share sector that service providers like Uber and Lyft characterize. In this model, any individual can supply driving services by application to customers via a smartphone app. Workers can decide whether to work temporarily or full-time and choose to work at any time according to the availability of transportation services.

A better experience of calling a car with a button and real-time tracking of one's driver's location is the convenience passengers have ushered in. Thus, people travel to local areas differently. Besides that, the rating system these platforms use provides drivers and passengers with avenues to maintain not only accountability but also the assurance of quality for themselves.