'It's so flexible': Gig workers and surveys praise gig work

Economics
Isaackingiii
Isaac King III | Provided Photo

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(Sponsored Content -- ) Gig work can be performed with any background, and gig workers and drivers especially praise gig work due to its flexibility. 

 A recent report performed by The Hamilton Project stated that as the post-Great Recession market continues to come back, gig work helps workers and the economy by supporting job growth. The authors of the report stated that the gig economy offers flexibility, minor training costs and low barriers to enter the workforce, allowing workers to supplement their incomes. Likewise, the report stated that customers benefit from services offered by gig workers and the low costs associated with them.

"Independent gig workers (such as online platform workers and independent contractors) experience high levels of work-life balance, flexibility, autonomy, meaningful feedback and creative freedom," a 2018 Gallup report said. "In fact, they score much higher on all these factors compared with traditional workers and other types of gig workers." 

"It's so flexible, though if I'm going to the grocery store, I can turn on the app," Isaac King III, an Uber driver from Chicago, told the Illinois Business Daily. "You know, in fact, that of the destination, and they'll find a trip going in that direction that I might make two or three blocks on the way to the grocery store."

An Edison Research report performed in December 2018 titled The Gig Economy surveyed 1,044 gig workers and discovered that 44% of gig workers work in the gig economy as their main source of income, with 53% of gig workers between the ages of 18-34 using gig work as their main source of income. The age demographics for the report from Edison Research were 38% between the ages of 18-34, 25% between 35-55 and 11% 55 or older. The racial demographics were 31% Hispanic, 27% African-American and 21% White/other.

Airtasker performed a YouGov survey that found 70% Gen Zers embrace the "flexible economy" that enables them to set their own hours and fee. The survey also uncovered that when making career choices, 33% are influenced by monetizing skills or hobbies and 52% are influenced by flexibility with 36% responding wanting to have the freedom to work from anywhere.

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