Gig economy here to stay – and growing
While gig workers do have some gripes about their choice to do it alone in the workplace, most who have gigged are not going back to employee status.
The gig economy is here to stay, and it is growing. While gig workers do have some gripes about their choice to do it alone in the workplace, most who have gigged are not going back to employee status.
That is the big-picture takeaway from a study of those who populate the gig economy, commissioned by financial products company Legal & General. The company wanted to find out just how solid the foundation of the gig economy is, and whether it would continue to thrive as the pandemic winds down. The survey firm YouGov reaped information from 1,044 freelancers and self-employed workers between the ages of 18 and 60 who draw 60% or more of their income from gig work. Nearly 7 in 10 say they foresee themselves gigging away for the foreseeable future.
Currently, Legal & General say, the U.S. gig economy comprises about 36% of the U.S. population – or 59 million people. By 2027, that number is expected to hit 85.6 million.
Gigging may be as American as basketball and jazz, based on the report.
“That sizable chunk of the population has resisted classification while continuing to self-identify and differentiate in myriad ways,” the report says. “Comparatively, a much smaller proportion of the labor force in the UK — an estimated 4.2 million people, or 6.2% of the population — are considered gig workers, though this number is also climbing.”
Desperation no longer is the primary driver of gigging in America. The recession of 2009 certainly forced many into gigdom. But, according to the responses from the survey group, giggers now prefer flying solo, and they are attracting more of their peers to the concept.
For instance, less than 1 in 10 indicate they would return to the corporate grind if given the opportunity. Flexibility was cite by 63% as the main reason they’ll continue to gig. Many not only liked the lack of corporate fetters, but they actually made more money gigging than in their prior incarnation as employees.
But they do have concerns about managing it all from their home office. Most commonly cite drawbacks to gigging were having to pay for their health care and not having the perks provided by an employer benefits package. Seven in 10 cite this as their chief complaint. Following closely behind on the negative list: not having someone else set aside retirement dollars for them, and concern about job stability/income predictability.
Despite these drawbacks, most of those interviewed are not looking for a fulltime corporate position.
Related: DOL gets backlash on its new ‘gig worker’ rule
“In this [gig worker] scenario, the worker exists as a sole small business owner, motivated by results rather than by hours supervised. Victimized or empowered? The reality lies somewhere in between, but with the modernization and acceptance of gig work, the overall work environment will likely inch closer and closer to the latter reality, providing workers with a newfound sense of flexibility, freedom, and control over their finances,” the report says.