The good of Gig Economy:
Full-time employment, though associated with security and stability, may not be everyone’s cup of tea. The lack of freedom, flexibility, and ownership in a 9-to-5 job can prove to be unsatisfactory for some people. So, the emerging gig economy has helped such people to take the reign of their work life in their hands and provides them the freedom to work as per their preferences, helping them leverage their skills to the optimum. This could increase their earnings, as gig workers are paid on their capacity to deliver the results. On the other hand, it’s a boon for the employers as having a contractual worker is any day much more cost-efficient than hiring a full-time employee. The employer saves on paying the taxes, or worker’s compensations, lower overheads etc. implying that a lot of money, resources and time is saved, yet can get their work done without too much liability.
The challenges of Gig Economy:
Just like everything else that goes hand in hand, there is also a more challenging side to this increasingly popular mode of work. The first one being the most obvious, is the lack of steady wages, no paid sick leaves, no benefits, and financial insecurity as a whole. The application-driven platforms have provided access to the gig economy to almost all spheres of employees, irrespective of their skills or experience. However, the gig economy is also quite infamous for its perceived exploitation of workers. This tends to put the gig workers in a quite vulnerable position and poses challenges for them to make ends meet on a daily basis along with an uncertain long-term picture. The amount a gig worker is able to earn depends on their skills, and the opportunities present, without a safety net of minimum wages, basic employee rights etc. Also, many of the jobs in the gig economy require no special skills or knowledge, meaning almost any person can do it, leading to huge competition.