Learned new terms today - 'gig work' and 'gig economy'; Is 'gig economy' good or bad for the world at large?
From https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/gig-economy:
"A gig economy is a free market system in which temporary positions are common and organizations contract with independent workers for short-term engagements. The term "gig" is a slang word meaning "a job for a specified period of time" and is typically used in referring to musicians."
The article gives more info. on gig economy, with the work involved in such an economy being referred to as "gig" work/job.
I think gig work may be OK for well established professionals but it may not be great for beginners and for those who seek a secure job over decades.
I was essentially an independent (so I had a one-man business; in today's labour language I was a hi-tech contract worker) software development consultant and trainer from Mar. 1993 to Aug. 2002, though for most of this period I had a steady arrangement with one customer-company. After Aug. 2002 I retired from commercial work to lead a lower-middle-class Indian single (unmarried) spiritual aspirant life in a rural spiritual town in India. But I was a regular employee from Mar. 1984 to Nov. 1992. It was this regular employee job security that allowed me to establish myself as a software development professional, which in turn gave me the confidence to be an independent contractor/consultant later on.
Given my professional work experience, I do think that large parts of the economy becoming a gig economy is not such a satisfactory thing from the worker's perspective as most of such gig workers may prefer to have a secure job as employee instead.
In one Indian NGO, I think there is a trend towards having a base of well paid employees (salary + benefits including health care) supported by lesser pay & benefits contract workers (or gig workers). But I believe that such gig work is not so attractive to job/work seekers.
Finally, it is the money bottom line that decides the matter. If an orgn. can afford only lesser pay gig worker contract positions for some kind of work, then that's what will be on offer. One cannot blame the bosses of such an NGO as their primary responsibility is to keep the NGO financially solvent and thereby ensure its continuance.
Perhaps it is similar for professional companies. Perhaps that's why countries around the world may see the gig economy becoming a bigger and bigger part of the economy. Such is life!
I must add that I came across the term in this article I read today: The gig is up: America’s booming economy is built on hollow promises, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jun/02/gig-economy-us-trump-uber-california-robert-reich, 2nd. June 2019. by Robert Reich, a former US Secretary for Labor. I do not know enough to opine whether the views expressed by Robert Reich in the article, are accurate or not. Ideally, one should read an opposing view article by a suitably qualified person (I don't mean academic qualifications; I mean work wise qualified which could include academic work), before arriving at a proper view.
"A gig economy is a free market system in which temporary positions are common and organizations contract with independent workers for short-term engagements. The term "gig" is a slang word meaning "a job for a specified period of time" and is typically used in referring to musicians."
The article gives more info. on gig economy, with the work involved in such an economy being referred to as "gig" work/job.
I think gig work may be OK for well established professionals but it may not be great for beginners and for those who seek a secure job over decades.
I was essentially an independent (so I had a one-man business; in today's labour language I was a hi-tech contract worker) software development consultant and trainer from Mar. 1993 to Aug. 2002, though for most of this period I had a steady arrangement with one customer-company. After Aug. 2002 I retired from commercial work to lead a lower-middle-class Indian single (unmarried) spiritual aspirant life in a rural spiritual town in India. But I was a regular employee from Mar. 1984 to Nov. 1992. It was this regular employee job security that allowed me to establish myself as a software development professional, which in turn gave me the confidence to be an independent contractor/consultant later on.
Given my professional work experience, I do think that large parts of the economy becoming a gig economy is not such a satisfactory thing from the worker's perspective as most of such gig workers may prefer to have a secure job as employee instead.
In one Indian NGO, I think there is a trend towards having a base of well paid employees (salary + benefits including health care) supported by lesser pay & benefits contract workers (or gig workers). But I believe that such gig work is not so attractive to job/work seekers.
Finally, it is the money bottom line that decides the matter. If an orgn. can afford only lesser pay gig worker contract positions for some kind of work, then that's what will be on offer. One cannot blame the bosses of such an NGO as their primary responsibility is to keep the NGO financially solvent and thereby ensure its continuance.
Perhaps it is similar for professional companies. Perhaps that's why countries around the world may see the gig economy becoming a bigger and bigger part of the economy. Such is life!
I must add that I came across the term in this article I read today: The gig is up: America’s booming economy is built on hollow promises, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jun/02/gig-economy-us-trump-uber-california-robert-reich, 2nd. June 2019. by Robert Reich, a former US Secretary for Labor. I do not know enough to opine whether the views expressed by Robert Reich in the article, are accurate or not. Ideally, one should read an opposing view article by a suitably qualified person (I don't mean academic qualifications; I mean work wise qualified which could include academic work), before arriving at a proper view.
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