The rise of the Gig Economy:
Social and Economic implications
Agenda
• Introduction
What is the Gig Economy?
• Opportunities
• What is in it for Employees?
Impact on the Stakeholders • What is in it for Employers?
• Impact on Society
Future of Work • Concerns of Freelancers
• Is it Sustainable?
2
What is Gig Economy? What are the
Introduction opportunities?
A gig economy is a free market system in which temporary positions are common and organizations hire independent
workers for short-term commitments.
Opportunities
Number of freelancers in the United States from Share of workers using gig economy platforms worldwide in 2018,
2017 to 2028 (in millions) by source of income
95 Gig work as primary income Gig work as secondary income
90.1
90 86.5 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%
83 China 12% 33%
Number of freelancers in millions
85
79.6 India 8% 31%
80 76.4
Indonesia 3% 23%
75 73.3
70.4 Brazil 5% 13%
70 67.6 US 4% 10%
64.8
65 62.2 UK 3% 7%
59.7
6057.3 Germany 2% 6%
Spain 1% 6%
55
Japan 2% 5%
50
France 3% 3%
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028
Sweden 1% 3%
3
What is in it for Employees?
S h a re o f re sp o n d e n ts
•Autonomy in taking up jobs Share of freelance workers in the United States who
•Work Scheduling Autonomy earn more or less than when working for an
•Task Identity-End to end handling of Tasks employer in 2019
80%
•Task Variety- Can take up jobs based on interests 60%
60%
40% 30%
20% 10%
0%
More Less The same
Leading reasons for doing freelance work in the United States in 2019
Part-time freelancers Full-time freelancers
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%
To have flexibility in my schedule 73%
79%
To be my own boss 66%
77%
To work from the location of my choosing 65%
74%
To be able to choose my own projects 64%
74%
To have a schedule that enables me to pursue my personal passions 66%
73%
To be in control of my own financial future 59%
72%
To have independence from things such as office dynamcs 62%
71%
To earn extra money 75%
71%
To be able to pursue work I am passionate about or find meaningful 66%
71%
4 To be able to spend more time with family 54%
68%
What is in it for Employers?
•Reduced Fixed costs - Lower payroll expenses, Infrastructure costs
•Reduced hiring and training costs
•Reduce the risk that they may be making a big investment in talent that won’t fit well in the long term.
•Reducing cost of providing health care and other benefits
•Ability to hire experts for services not needed on regular basis
•Agility in scaling their workforce up and down quickly to meet the business demands
Access to employer-sponsored retirement plans Access to employer benefits among full-time
among full-time employees and gig economy employees and gig workers in U.S. 2018
workers in the U.S. in 2018
82%
60% 80% Gig economy workers Full-time employees
52% 66%
50% 59%
60%
Share of respondents
Share of respondents
40% 40% 42%
40%
30% 25%
20%
20% 16% 20%
5%
10% 0%
0% Medical Dental insurance Life insurance Short-term
Gig economy workers Full-time employees insurance disability
insurance
Note: United States; January 5 to February 18, 2017; 18 years and older; 1,491; 514 full-time, 256 part-time traditional employees and 721 gig workers.
Further information regarding this statistic can be found on page 82.
5 Source(s): Prudential Financial; Harris Poll; ID 917763
Sh are o f resp o n d en ts Impact of the Gig Economy
Leading concerns of freelance workers in the United States in
2019
Share of freelancers who have experienced not
being paid in the U.S. in 2017 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
60% 50%
Being able to put enough money into savings 76%
39%
40% Saving for retirement 75%
20% 8% 4% Unpredictable income 72%
0%
I have never not Yes, once or Yes, 3-5 times Yes, more than 5 Being paid a fair rate 72%
been paid twice times
Access to affordable healthcare 72%
High taxation rates 72%
Reasons for non-payment among freelancers in the U.S.
An economic downturn in the next few years 70%
in 2017
% % % % % Debt 65%
0% 10 20 30 40 50
Difficulty finding work 63%
Freelancers are not taken seriously 44%
There were disputes about the payment terms 28% Forgoing the purchase of things I need 63%
Customers were unhappy 18% Having opportunities for career growth 62%
The client couldn't use the payment methods I accept 16% Non-payment or late payment for work 60%
The payment took too long to arrive 16%
Finding information about benefit options 59%
The payment got lost 13%
Complying with (or knowing) legal regulations 59%
Other 18%
Competition from other freelancers 57%
Note: United States; June 7 to July 3, 2019; 18 years and older; 6,001; adults who have done paid work in the past 12 months
6 Further information regarding this statistic can be found on page 63.
Source(s): Upwork; Edelman; ID 1128134
Thank You
