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Gig workers are independent contractors, online platform workers,[1] contract firm workers, on-call workers[2] and temporary workers.[3] Gig workers enter into formal agreements with on-demand companies to provide services to the company's clients.[4]
Conditions
According to a 2021 report by the World Health Organization and the International Labour Organization the expansion of the gig economy can be seen as one significant factor for the increase in worker deaths for those who work over 55 hours a week (relative to those who work 35-40), rising from 600,000 deaths in 2000 to 750,000 in 2016.[5] The report found that in 2016, 9% of the world's population worked greater than 55 hours weekly, and this was more prevalent among men, as well as workers in the Western Pacific and South-East Asia regions. Work has also suggested poor mental health outcomes amongst gig workers.[6]
Labor movement
The gig economy makes it more difficult for workers to organize a union or demand higher pay or better conditions, due to the fact that there is no central location where labor must continually be performed by a set group of workers.
Despite this difficulty, there have been successes in organizing gig workers. Both founded in 2018, the Gig Economy Project in Europe and Gig Workers Rising in California have grown substantially in recent years.