Question

Critically discuss the pros and cons of the gig economy for the WIDER SOCIETY. At least 3 pros and 3 cons, please. Only for the wider society.

Answer 1

The word "gig economy" refers to a free market environment in which conventional companies employ independent contractors, freelancers, and short-term employees to perform specific duties, projects, or occupations. The word comes from the performing arts world where they pay artists, comedians, etc. for their individual performances, called "gigs."

Pros are:

Lower cost.- Since employers do not have to pay for a full-time salary or on-board expenses, new hires also have lower costs than other jobs. Employers can pay a salary and sometimes they don't even have to provide work equipment for gig-economists. It helps them to cut expenses and pay more for the actual job a freelancer is providing.

Ability to scale quickly.- Many smaller or startup firms find freelance workers that allow them to quickly scale up their business. Small companies just need to find people who have their own computer and are willing to do the job without having to have office space, facilities, and benefits. These jobs can be identified easily and with little commercialization, even by word of mouth. Then businesses can meet their business goals and demands while keeping their costs down. Through setting up healthcare or HR schemes, they can save time and resources and can easily employ staff to do basic jobs that need to be completed at the time.

Pool of flexible workers- The use of gig economy staff allows businesses to have a large pool of mobile employees at their fingertips. Such employees also work hours different from regular business hours, so it is less difficult to need anything completed late at night or early in the morning. Staff are also also able to do some weekend work because they can do so from home with incentives and flexibility for companies. Gig economy employees are mostly of different ages and skill levels, and companies may use staff based on their abilities for different projects. The often varying experiences that gig economy employees bring to the table will potentially encourage the business to be more innovative and have ideas.

Cons are:

Less reliable workers- Gig economy employees often search for remote jobs, since they are not able to work as hard. This is unfortunate for companies, and they should be comprehensive in setting standards and hiring freelance employees to ensure a reliable employee will be available.

Tight regulations on contractor status.- Businesses involved in employing temporary employees need to recognize all of their state 's requirements for contractor status. Some states require written agreements, some are just "at-will," which means that an employee or an employer may terminate the arrangement at any time. Sometimes there is paperwork that needs to be collected, and income information that is different from typical full-time workers who need to be submitted for tax. That can be a little headache for businesses to handle.

No benefits.- Unfortunately, benefits don't form part of the plan for most gig economy employment. Since you're not the organization's full-time employee, the rules are different on the benefits that the company has to give you. Some companies will offer long-term contractors advantages but this is rare. Workers in the gig economy should plan budgeting for private insurance purchases. You do need to schedule retirement and estimate how much paycheck you need to bring per month for that. There are several options for saving money for retirement, from IRAs to 401ks.