Next, Let’s Rethink Gig Work

You are the “nano-employer” of gig workers. You can make a difference.

The short take: Good news? Flexibility. Bad news? Unstable. We can do better. And everyone can contribute to making that happen.

In March ‘22, I hosted a session in San Francisco for the Minister of Labor from Denmark and a dozen of the country’s legislators. Their fascination: Gig work, which I call?Unbundled Work . (“Unbundling” comes from the incomparable John Hagel .)

Though gig work platforms are new, unbundled work has been around a long time.?Jay Conrad Levinson , a contemporary of?my father’s ?and author of the venerable?Guerrilla Marketing ?books, wrote?Earning Money Without a Job ?in 1979. Jay offered strategies for building what I now call?a?portfolio of work, stitching projects together into a changing landscape of income sources, usually through your own network and local community.

Think of gig work as something you participate in: Worldwide, the lines between gig work, temporary work, and informal economies are blurry, but payroll processor ADP suggests?a third of global work is gig . And some studies suggest that?over a third of American workers participate ?(though only half that amount found work on gig platforms). In the 2020 U.S. economy, one study says gig workers?contributed $1.2 trillion.?

And think of gig as a spectrum of work, from a single gig (you once did a paid project) to full-time (all of your income comes from one or more gig platforms). You might do a lot more gig work when you’re between jobs, or while you’re in school. Or you might just like doing it. (I did a ton of temporary work in my aimless youth, through contract services like Kelly and Manpower. I didn't love it.)

Most gig platforms are?two-sided work markets . There are three players in online work markets: Supply (that’s us, messy and expensive humans), Demand (the amount of paid work), and the Platform (the organization running the network). Two of the three always win: Demand, which invariably gets the lowest price (as long as there's competition, or the threat of competition), and the Platform, which inevitably takes its percentage. Supply does okay only as long as Platform allows it — but Platform can take that away instantly. So it’s up to Demand (that’s you, the customer) to make sure it’s as fair as possible.

(Example: France’s Just Eats delivery app paid workers as employees — and lost 1 billion euros last year. Result:?It’s reneging on its payment agreement , claiming it can’t compete with competitors who don’t pay fairly.)

When it comes to gig work, you are the “nano-employer.” If you ride,?or get food delivered, you aren’t just a customer: You aren't just a customer, you are temporarily employing someone. So be a good employer.

?Unbundled work offers a range of?benefits?to gig workers.

• Flexibility ?to do the work when and where the worker likes (so long as the Platform allows it), potentially wrapping work around life, rather than the other way around.
• Independent income ?without requiring a full-time job, or extra income beyond a regular paycheck, or to span periods of unemployment.
• Low friction to access, since gig work like driving and delivery doesn’t require a lot of training. That’s especially useful for people recently entering or re-entering the workforce, including?young people ?(who can learn how to work) and immigrants, who can build a work history. (When I visit Washington DC, I’m endlessly fascinated by the stories of immigrant Lyft drivers from a United Nations range of countries.)
• For some gig work, access to skilled work like design or programming.?

And gig work has a variety of potential?downsides.

• Irregular and unpredictable shifts .
• Downward compression on wages, except for workers with in-demand skills.
• Total responsibility for managing a one-person business, possibly with a range of unpredictable and hidden costs, such as gas, car payments, wear-and-tear, and unknown and constantly-changing fees ruled by a faceless algorithm.
• Locked-off career paths. The best Uber driver in the world isn’t likely to become an executive at Uber.
• Lack of worker power .?Faceless algorithms decide what you get paid , and without?collective power ?or government intervention, the Platform can pay whatever it wants. Without worker protections, it can drop your rating (which means death to your income) with few repercussions.

The best Uber driver in the world isn’t likely to become an executive at Uber

?An increasing number of people?participate in gig work . That’s good news if it gives people needed work or extra money. It’s bad news if people can’t find stable jobs, or who have to do it because their day jobs won’t let them make ends meet.

Formal work markets (like in western Europe) have lots of solid jobs, while informal work markets (like developing economies) require many workers to fend for themselves. (The U.S. is a weird blend of a work market with lots of formal work — but few safety nets to keep workers employed.)?Too much informal work keeps economies from being strong and resilient, because inevitable economic downturns leave informal workers scrambling. When lots of people are working, it’s usually good for gig workers, because the Platforms have to pay better. But when many are unemployed (lots of Supply), gig workers may find they have less work and lower pay.

So what do you need to do?next?

• If you are Demand (the customer), pay well. Tip your Lyft driver and DoorDash deliverer. Give positive ratings as often as possible, and don’t give lower ratings just because you’re momentarily annoyed. That rating is their livelihood.
• If you are Supply (the worker),?take every opportunity to organize . If you remain one lone worker, the Platform will always win. Use an increasing array of tools to manage your one-person business, save money, do Life/Work Planning, and build your portfolio of work.
• If you are the Platform, commit to a business model that will allow you to deliver fair wages. Pay for worker accounts that help them have healthcare, smooth income variations, and save money — the same things real employers do.?Protect them from scammers . And if you are Demand, only use Platforms that make these commitments. Even better, whenever possible, use?worker co-ops .
• If you have any influence over policy,?build worker protections ?that define how Platforms can (and cannot) innovate.

?In future?newsletters, I’ll explore two other facets of the?next?gig economy: A portfolio of work, and project work within an organization.

For further learning, here's who's smart on this topic: Darren Walker . Kristin Sharp . John Irons . Sarita Gupta . Vikrum Aiyer . Sarah Kessler . Greg Brodsky .

?-gB

Gary A. Bolles

I’m the author of?The?Next?Rules of Work: The mindset, skillset, and toolset to lead your organization through uncertainty . I’m also the adjunct Chair for the Future of Work for?Singularity Group . I have over 1.1 million learners for my courses on?LinkedIn Learning . I'm a partner in the consulting firm?Charrette LLC . I’m the co-founder of?eParachute.com . I'm an original founder of?SoCap , and the former editorial director of 6 tech magazines. Learn more at?gbolles.com