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As a bit of an aside, not everyone is convinced that there is an ongoing transition to a gig economy. Uber is just replacing one kind of freelancer with another
by _delirium 11y ago
As a bit of an aside, not everyone is convinced that there is an ongoing transition to a gig economy. Uber is just replacing one kind of freelancer with another one, so isn't a great example of a net shift. And the macroeconomic statistics if anything are trending away from self-employment towards full-time employment: https://www.economy.com/dismal/analysis/datapoints/255258/We-Are-Not-a-Nation-of-Freelancers/ https://www.economy.com/dismal/analysis/datapoints/255258/We...
I think the questions the post raises are good ones, though.
- mahyarm 11y agoMost taxi drivers in the USA are also 'independent contractors'. Tomato tomatoe?
- tosseraccount 11y ago"Don't have social security cards"
- dcosson 11y agoYou're right that these companies could lose steam and this shift could never come. On the other hand, the macroeconomic stats could change incredibly quickly since these companies are growing exponentially. E.g. if a company is doubling every year, then by the end of 2017 they'll have 8x more freelance workers than they did at the end of 2014, 16x more in 2018, and so on. Based on how big of a change this could be it seems worth at least starting the discussion now rather than after the shift has already happened and there are millions of people without the protections they need. Also, with the Uber example in particular, they have their sights set on disrupting car ownership, not just the taxi industry. So there's a chance it will be a huge net shift.
- mrxd 11y agoThose predictions are based on the growth of contingent work. Self-employment is just one of the 6 classifications within contingent work.