That job is arguably nicer than e.g. flipping the burgers or cleaning the kitchen at that McDonald's. The service industry has a lot of hidden jobs performed by

That job is arguably nicer than e.g. flipping the burgers or cleaning the kitchen at that McDonald's. The service industry has a lot of hidden jobs performed by hard working people that just aren't very glamorous. We're in a market with very low unemployment rate: people can choose what they do within some reason. Lots of people are choosing to take gigs like this rather than work as a dishwasher, or waiting tables. IMHO that's basically people voting with their feet. Of course things in the US are a bit worse than in Europe. People have to work multiple jobs there just to pay the rent. That shitty job at McDonald's is not enough. So you have fully employed people that do that that find it necessary to take some gigs on top of that because their regular job just isn't paying enough. That's not the gig economy that caused that; something else was broken there long before that became a thing. Like the lack of a minimum wage, the erosion of the middle class, etc. Things looked pretty grim the last time I visited San Francisco. Abject poverty right next to extreme wealth. Whatever caused that, it's not Uber or delivery companies. Here in Berlin, Uber drivers are just normal taxi drivers. There are a lot of people on bikes delivering stuff and they seem to be OK with that. Seems popular with mostly younger people. And of course Amazon Prime and other deliveries are a huge thing here as well. The gig economy is definitely putting some pressure on the social insurance system and some countries are better than others at forcing these companies to treat their people fairly. Unions certainly don't like it that there people earning money outside of sectors they control. But overall, I think it's a system that could work longer term and not just a fad. We just need to figure out how to get these people insured against the inevitabilities in life: sickness, retirement, and unemployment.