Question

Gig Economy (HRM Question )

Introduce the precarious work labour and gig economy.

Critically discuss the pros and cons of gig work for organisations, workers, and the wider society

Does generations have an impact on the rise of this new work concept?

What is the meaning of 'work' if gig is the future? What is the impact of technological advancements? • How does this impact the developing economies? And wider society?

And overall conclusion

Answer 1

What is Gig Economy and why is it called as a gig economy :

Gig economy or collborative economy refers to the fact that today work is being distributed in bits and pieces where each employee does some bit of the work in which he/she has the capability. Organisations are giving out bits and pieces of work to different individuals based on the individuals capabilities and paying on the basis of completion of the work given out. This is akin to individual "Gigs" and hence the origin of the term Gig economy . Examples can be airbnb , uber etc where individuals drive , clean a room , make deliveries etc depending on their competence. The work is assigned -in many cases - through a tech based platform which chooses from a worker pool on the basis of their rates, availability or geographical proximity etc. This kind of work has been variously categorised as colloborative economy , gig economy or precarious labour depending on who is doing the categorisation.

PROS of the gig economy

1. Driving efficiency : By choosing to allot work to the "best" person , the system drives efficiency in delivering the best possible outcome to the end customer.

2. Flexibility to work : this system brings in a lot of flexibility i.e. people can offer themselves for work when they want to rather than having a strait jacketed system.

CONS of the Gig Economy

1. Lack of protection of jobs - this kind of economy means that the labour doesnt get job protection - they can be simply dropped out of the available pool basis factors that are not transparent,

2. No benefits - unlike workers in a traditional economy , gig economy workers dont get benefits like sick pay, maternity benefits, minimum wages , contribution to social insurance etc.

3. Fair Pay - at some level , gig economy focuses on costs efficiency and hence may not offer fair pay to workers as it is entirely dependent on demand conditions.

Impact of gig economy on society and future of work :

Gig economy as a concept is not new. For many years , there has been independent sub contracting of work to hundreds of subcontractors and specialists. However , this concept is gaining more momemtum as

1. many young people want to be part of the gig economy as opposed to doing a 9 to 5 job in the traditional economy.

2. The current Corona virus pandemic will accelerate the gig economy further

3. Technology advancements have made it possible to eliminate bias and get access to more of such jobs in an significantly easy manner.

4. The costs benefit that it drives for companies has made them particularly receptive to this concept rather than give out jobs under the traditional system.

FUTURE OF WORK

This decade will see the gig economy workers outstripping the traditional economy workers . Hence both governments and colloborative employers must join hands to ensure :

1. Fair pay for all employees

2. NO discrimination

3. Benefits - some basic benefits like sick pay/maternity benefits

4. Training - especially in reskilling and upskilling of employees to ensure uniform delivery of products and services as well as movement of the employees up the value chain

5. Non-exploitative - protection to ensure that the workers are not exploited with long hours and low pay

With pandemics such as the current one - this trend is going to get accelerated. Hence governments and employers should collaborate and define and protect the rights of workers under the gig economy.