The gig economy is entering the lives of people and changing standard employment dynamic, and whilst the debate goes on in various fields. discarded as a myth when it was first introduced in the market has today transformed into one of the most sensationalized subjects for discussion over the last couple of years ranging from the inventors of the technology, policy makers, analysts in the media and the ordinary employees. New technology,.”, “gig economy”, telecommuting and freelancing relations have influenced the way people perceive employment. As with many trendy issues, people are running towards this problem with open arms but what is driving the excitement and why is it such an existential topic of conversation?
1. Defining the Gig Economy
Gig economy is a term used to describe a context in which paid work is characterized by stress on temporary, flexible and occasional jobs often undertaken under free and autonomous contracts with the hiring organization. Gig work has become more prevalent due to platforms such as Uber, Fiverr, Upwork, TaskRabbit, and Airbnb and allow the workers to choose their hours and select their projects. To many people, gig economy provides an opportunity for people to avoid routine work or come to work from 9 in the morning to 5 in the evening.
As seen, this change in the work force has resulted in viral conversations because of the role it plays in today’s society and more so in this age of the new generation. For the concept of the ‘gig economy,’ extensive growth in the number of freelance platforms and an increased demand for flexible and on-demand work. But as with anything that offers inconceivable freedom, there is also a less appealing side which has started viral debates as well.
2. Freedom vs. Stability: A Double-Edged Sword
Despite the numerous pros and cons highlighted when it comes to the gig economy, flexibility is possibly one of the most discussed flexible benefits in return for insecurity. While freelancers in the gig economy may enjoy the flexibility of choosing the hours that they prefer and the work that they wish to do, these benefits come attached to the drawbacks of instability in terms of employment, medical cover or retirement benefits which are the very fundamental provisions that are provided to those in employment.
This instability has been a subject of many viral discussions, most especially during shocks in the economy. In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic globally affected many gig workers whereby they lost their sources of income as compared to typical job employees who had ways to cushion themselves. This led people into debating on the fact that governments should extend their safety nets for gig workers. People even used trending topics such as #SupportGigWorkers to popularize the problem on social networks.
3. The Pandemic’s Impact on the Gig Economy
COVID-19 seems to have pushed some changes that were already occurring in the gig economy to go viral further. Some industries like ridesharing had a drop while others including food delivery services and online freelance work platform expanded. Some employees needed to look for a new source of income, and the pandemic forced them into gig work; many began to accept the reality of freelancing.
The changes to the regular sources of the labor force were then put under scrutiny to determine if the gig economy was to be a long-term fix in job insecurity or just a makeshift until employment formalities were back in place. The discussion on this change went up to cyberspace as more and more people became part of gig economy willingly or unwillingly in this period. There were countless tales of people switching to gig work and struggling; blogs, social media, and news articles included all of this.
4. Legal Battles and Worker Rights
Another viral aspect of the gig economy is the legal status of gig workers which has become a matter of concern. The main concern that has attracted a number of controversies is whether gig workers should be categorized as independent contractors or employees. In the U. S, some legal cases such as the California’s Proposition 22, which specifically allowed companies such as Uber and Lyft to avoid providing their workers with employment status, turned into a meme that people widely used when talking about the future of work.
The resolution of this law issue had a global impact, which was not limited to the United States of America. This ignited much debate, especially about the kind of responsibilities that these companies have towards their workers. People came out online in defense of their own side and the opposing side as well. On one hand, advocates of the gig economy have claimed that changing the workers’ status would take away their freedom. Worker advocates on the other hand believed that the aim of delivering value should include benefits, fair wages and protection that employees gain.
Some new and popular social media such as Twitter and Reddit witnessed aggressive debates, hashtags such as #GigWorkerRights, #Prop22, and #UberStrike were popularized. Such discussions highlighted that the gig economy is contagious, as well as the outcome for other workers and employers.
5. Technology and Automation: Gig Work 2.0
Gig economy is not only about employing manpower workers anymore. As automation and more specifically artificial intelligence became a part of the daily lives of many people, it is hard to ignore that these changes are challenging the gig economy as well. Uber bought autonomous cars for instance or rather many organizations believe that robots and AI could take many gig jobs especially those in the transportation industry.
This topic has sparked numerous click-bait articles, podcasts, and ridiculous videos on the future of work in gig economy. Will leaders of gig economy workers allow machines and technology to takeover in the future? Instead, will there be new forms of gig work, as the technologies that are disrupting labour markets develop? These are the questions that go in viral discussion threads where the individuals are given over to pondering about the future of the gig economy in the decades to come.
6. Global Expansion of the Gig Economy
A gig economy isn’t a problem for a select few countries only; it is prevalent across the globe. These platforms: Fiverr, Upwork, and Freelancer, have connected the entire world into a single marketplace of gig economy. Thus, discussions regarding gig Economy have become viral in many regions and areas with local adaptations and challenges.
Many developing countries where conventional employment is difficult to come by have since adopted gig economy as the new source of income. European and North American countries have observed a sharp increase in gig work especially in graphic design, content writing, virtual assistance and more importantly app-based services in the Asian, African and Latin American countries.
Several debates have arisen and out of these debates, some of the topics include; pay inequality, outsourcing among others and especially hiring freelance careers from less developed countries at cheaper prices. The discussion has produced awareness of the problem of justice and equality among the international employees and questions regarding the use of the gig platforms requiring the employees of developing countries. This creates a steady and constant discussion with the public and often escalates to a viral level particularly when the issues that are disclosed are injustices overcompensation or workers’ abuse.
7. The Future of the Gig Economy: Viral Predictions
Discussing the future of the gig economy is still very vibrant with many, many prognoses in existence. While there are those who argue that gig work is now the future of employment since more and younger consumers are now opting for flexible independent work than being stuck in an organization for years. This is usually depicted in TikTok, YouTube and other social media platforms where people post about their gig work experience whether good or bad.
Some people opine that the graph will balloon the income disparity between the workers and employers reducing their rights due to emergence of gig economy hence leading to viral demands on better work cover. Quite arguably, labor unions and various organizations that promote the rights of workers are still in the process of trying to unionize the gig workers largely through social media.
Conclusion
The concept of gig economy is in the middle of many of the hottest topics that are being associated with work today. Looking at its impact on workers to the legal as well as the ethical dilemmas it presents, the gig economy has elicited extensive and spirited debate in society at large as well as in the various industries and/or age groups. According to the development of technology, increasing numbers of workers prefer flexible jobs, and the ongoing legal disputes for workers’ rights, the gig economy will always be a trend, and lead more viral conversations on the future of work. The transformation of those discussions will set the course of the labor market for the next several years, and whether the gig economy will be more beneficial for workers or corporations will largely depend on the policies and surrounding platforms provoked by the viral discussions.
