Contiguous and particularly short-term engagements, and freelance employment have characterized global employment within the gig economy. Some of today’s most popular interfaces for work include Uber, Upwork, and Fiverr where individuals can now decide when and where to work and for how much.
In 2023, the gig economy was worth $347 billion and according to different predictions, it can grow up to $455 billion in 2024.
Use of gig work has a significant impact on both the workers, for they are able to have some form of freedom while choosing their jobs and on the businesses since they are in a position to be able to cut some of their costs.
Employees are able to have multiple sources of revenue and freedom when choosing their working hours and days; instance, companies have opportunities to hire or fire employees without having long-term liabilities. However, there are some issues such as unpredictable income, lack of employment security and access to employee benefits like medical care and pension for the gig economy workers.
About 59% of the gig workers stated that their gig jobs do not make up their primary source of income. More so, only 31% of gig workers in the U. S. rely on the income generated from gig work as their primary source of income with most of them relying on it as an additional source of income.
This phenomenon will evolve in the future with the development of technology in work environments and the increase in flexibility and dependence through gigs, but depending on the legislation of the respective laws to protect all the rights of workers that these platforms have.
Sources: McKinsey & Co., Mastercard, Federal, Reserve, and the World Bank.
