The Gig Economy

This is where the gig economy stands - freelancers are connected to customers through digital platforms like apps and websites that offer short-term services or rental or sharing. Among the growing categories of app usage are ride-sharing apps, food delivery apps and holiday rental apps, which bring about increased productivity to businesses and employment opportunities to individuals.

The issue also brings up concerns and reservations about the level of protection for businesses, consumers and workers. The challenge is to find a balance between innovation and employee rights. A global debate is taking place regarding the gig economy or about the independent workers. Millions of people are no longer dependent on being on the payroll or working nine-to-five for one employer over a long period of time. Instead, they work for themselves, working from their own accord, on a job-by-job basis. Unlike traditional employees, independent contractors and freelancers are frequently hired by companies in the gig economic space, due to the availability of temporary jobs to be filled in and filled out.

Full-time workers who prioritize their career development are undermined by the gig economic activities. A significant proportion of individuals in the gig economy work either part-time or temporary, acting as independent contractors. A result of this gig economic activity is cheaper, more efficient services such as car-booking or room-rental for those who are willing to use them. Those who are not dependent on technological services like the Internet may be left behind by the gig economy's benefits. The cities with the highest levels of development or population clusters are typically the most heavily involved in the gig economy, the rural parts like towns and villages are not much affected by it till now, may be in the future as the connectivity grows to them as well. For various occupations are classified as gigs, work can range from driving for cab-booking service, delivering food, writing code or writing independent articles. Contract employees, including assistants and low maintenance teachers, who are not the same as residency track or tenured teachers.

By hiring more assistants and low-maintenance teachers, schools and colleges can provide their students with their academic needs while reducing expenses; Software companies are hiring job on job basis in a software life cycle not needing to keep workers on bench till the next project by paying them and also for their insurance; Farms hire temporary or seasonal workers; Stores hire temporary workers in the holiday season or on huge sale days. Currently, America is well on the path to establishing a new an robust gig economy, and estimates indicate that only 33% of the working population is currently in some type of part-time or Gig work. Experts predict that the number of workers will rise, as these types of work involve self-employed contractors, often without the need to visit an office. Gig workers are more likely to work from home and require less maintenance, also save money and time on travelling to and fro from office. Additionally, employers have more options available to them as they don't have to consider their location of the candidate they want to hire. Furthermore, the advancement of personal computers, phones and tablets has led to its ability to either replace the current job positions or enable individuals to work efficiently and effectively from their homes or any other place using internet.

The gig economy does have some downsides. The gig economic trends may make it more challenging for full-time workers to excel in their careers, as there are often less expensive and easier to access individuals available to work. Working in the conventional manner and the power of a traditional professional approach may loose its sheen all together. They can still win the game by up skill themselves and be up to date with latest job requirements, if necessary do a part-time gig themselves if they do not have time constraint or in need of extra income.

Like it or not, the Gig economy is not going anywhere but is growing in an exponential form around the world, where most of the gig workers hail from Asia or Eastern Europe and ones hiring them are from America or Western Europe. As a Business it is imperative to save cost but also making sure of filling the temp jobs with skilled workers and to find them where ever they are available, for Gig workers it is important to be skilled and to work with honesty and have an edge over the competition which is growing day by day. For those not involved but are happy and satisfied with regular nine-to-fives be skilled up and also up to date in your field as the firms you are working can always have an option.