Did you order food today from UberEats or get a ride to work from a Lyft? Did you go pick up your groceries via Instacart? What about getting your dry cleaning taken care of from Favor? All of these companies are some of the best and brightest, and they’re all central to the fastest growing part of the jobs sector: the gig economy.
Everywhere you look, the gig economy is exploding. New services dropping plenty of “why didn’t I think of that?” moments are the new norm. From laundry to maid services, it seems like every job is on its way having the possibility of a short-term variation.
We’re sharing our cars, our homes, or hauling away the contents of the garage and it’s all on the worker’s terms.
The power of transparency at work
Back in 2015, two economists from Harvard and Princeton set out to measure the gig economy’s impact and boy howdy, is it massive: to the tune of almost $864B massive. More than a third of workers consider themselves as an independent worker. People want flexibility and by signing on for hours or just a day or project allows them to pick and choose what they take on rather than taking anything attached to a dollar amount.
The government is getting on board, too. Labor Secretary Alex Acosta said the recently collected data “needs to be a starting point for many conversations we need to have about the economy… We don’t need to avoid it. We need to embrace it.” Acosta then cited the federal regulations in place that hamper the gig economy and suggested changing how we approach the topic, preferring to call it the “entrepreneurial economy.”
Whatever way you wanna coin the term, the concept of work and how we think of workers is most definitely changing. It’s projected that the gig economy will grow so much that by 2030 it might make up 80% of the US economy. And many businesses are welcoming this change with open arms, as the idea of work is being reinvented and people are curious.
Adoption is slowly catching in sectors traditionally kept in-house. Right now, there isn’t a significant middle ground, but the numbers are evolving. Buffer, the project management application performed a study which showed that companies either loved the gig economy or were bearish on the prospect, considering there’s a 90% adoption rate in the companies who love it, versus those slower to adopt were only around 10%.
One of the biggest reasons companies are falling in love with the gig economy is its massive impact on the bottom line. Because so many companies have adopted short-time workers for small, or one-time projects, it’s slashed over 20% in labor costs according to Jobble.
Instead of putting someone on the payroll full-time, utilizing the gig economy allows bosses to get jobs completed on a project-by-project basis via a freelancer or someone just picking up a job for the afternoon. This way, regular employees aren’t backed up with work that someone else could tackle, which eases the prospect of burnout.
If a company is looking to bring on some temporary help, they’ve got some choices. Adia lets workers find gigs through the app, where we hook them up with employers who need jobs done ASAP. They sign up and once they’re in, they’re in. They can work once or all of the time.
We even put our workers on a W-2 when they join Adia, which takes care of the taxes, worker’s comp, and benefits (if they work enough hours weekly) – and the company who needs quick help won’t be on the hook for any of it. If you’re interested to learn more check out our home page.
Workers of all ages want flexibility
One of the most significant contributors to these numbers is that 92% of Millennials are open to the idea of working remotely. But, this works in concert with the idea that people of all age groups, from boomers to Generation X are all taking advantage of a schedule that works for them. People love flexibility – we’re all connected via our phones anyhow, so if a message needs to get to someone, it’s easy.
By embracing this form of working as legitimate, it gives employers the edge because of that flexibility, but also that projects are getting done faster, allowing for quicker innovation and product development, or services delivered. It also provides a larger pool of candidates who are specialized in skill instead of trying to find someone that has a broader set of skills, not to mention opens up a range of diverse candidates.
For general labor or non-specialized roles, these are perfect ways for immigrants to contribute right away instead of working jobs that aren’t so great.
The time of the season
Think about seasonal work: there’s an influx of people hitting retailers of all kind. That means more people need to be on the floor with customers, stocking shelves, working in the warehouse. And then there are construction crews putting together special installations, buildings, and displays. There are a lot of jobs around the holiday season, and someone needs to fill those roles. But, because the need isn’t all year long, this the perfect example of hiring within the gig economy.
Try before you buy
One of the other compelling aspects of the gig economy that it allows both the freelancer and the company to work together and test the relationship out. This takes the guesswork out of the equation in cases like graphic designers and writers or other creatives. Many creatives prefer freelancing, but when the relationship is too good to pass up, it opens up the conversation to different possibilities on both sides.
Most of the gig economy is controlled via smartphone. While a customer can order up a few subs for lunch, the person actually delivering the food doesn’t need to be a rocket scientist. On both ends, the person ordering, but also the person delivering has an easy to use ecosystem that allows for anyone to get involved.
The technology sector has created a market for people doing all kinds of different jobs. Scheduling, negotiating wages, essential communication all happen in the place where workers communicate in the first place: in the palm of their hand. The future of work is here and it’s affecting every sector of the job market. That’s a good thing. If you loved this blog, be sure to check out the others.
