Transportation
The Future of (Occasional) Work
A study on a subset of the gig economy—yes, another one—out of JP Morgan Chase suggests the share of people using online platforms to find work is growing, but hours and earnings are far from regular.
Assessing the size of the gig economy is like looking into a double-sided mirror: Look in it one way, and it’s bigger than ever. Stare at the other, and you might have to squint.
This spring ushered in studies that seemed to indicate the latter. In June, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that only 6.9 percent of the total workforce counts as a contingent worker (loosely defined as workers who may have a long-term employer, but are compensated by the individual gig; or self-employed contract workers). Another analysis from the Economic Policy Center found that Uber drivers (mainstays of the online gig economy) only accounted for about half a percent of total employment nationwide.