People often lump freelance/contingent work and the "gig economy" together, but they're actually two different things. Yes, both are often used to avoid the cos

People often lump freelance/contingent work and the "gig economy" together, but they're actually two different things. Yes, both are often used to avoid the cost of taxes and benefits, or to gain flexibility and not have to lay off regular workers if the business doesn't thrive. However, freelance and contingent work has generally been about hiring people who chose to work under those terms, to accept the uncertainty and some of the costs in return for gaining their own kind of flexibility or a higher hourly wage. The gig economy to a large degree seems to rely on a pool of involuntarily unemployed (or under-employed) people who would very much prefer to have a more regular job with a more regular paycheck if only they could find one. If the economy, or economic policy, changed so that there were more decent jobs available, the freelancers and contractors would go on as they always have but the gig workers would all bail and the gig-economy companies would have to make some serious adjustments to stay in business (if that would even be possible in such a different labor environment).