There's No Such Thing as 'The Gig Economy'

[Starry Messenger]

http://www.psmag.com/business-economics/your-gig-economy-is-some-kind-of-marketing-wizardry

"The current frenzy over “the sharing economy,” “the gig economy,” “the 1099 economy,” “the on-demand economy”—whatever you want to call it—makes it seem as though on-demand delivery services and exploitive freelance labor models are new. These labels are convenient for the kind of technology industry marketing that frames every company as a unique innovation in order to convince investors to invest and consumers to consume, and for journalists who need to write about new trends in order to convince editors and readers that they matter. Even the most passionate detractors of sharing, gigs, and 1099s have a vested interest in acting like this is a horrifying expression of new technological forces, in order to build energy around regulation and labor reform.

But this is not new. Service economy + smartphones = service economy.

<snip>

Is Dominos a tech company now that it has an app?

Technology has had a hand in widening the wealth gap and eliminating much of the middle-class since this industry shift began decades ago. But with the other hand, tech scoops up and delivers old promises of middle-class life and delivers them to the new poor. It’s cheaper to eat out, to shop, to entertain yourself, and to obtain consumer technology that makes all those things even more convenient, even on just $21,000 a year. A knowledge economy is sometimes referred to as “an economics of abundance, not scarcity.” It’s really an economics of scarcity with the appearance of abundance.

<snip>

If a freelance labor model is the gig economy's true innovation, it’s late on that one as well. Independent contract work has been on the rise ever since America shifted away from a manufacturing economy, simply because it’s cheaper. Taxi drivers were freelancers decades before Uber was a misty twinkle in Travis Kalanick’s greedy eye.

Of course, unique moral outrage is seductive. Someone being paid $5 an hour to deliver toilet paper to people who make $300 an hour and are ideologically opposed to tipping does look very gross, lazy, and inhumane, not to mention indicative of a deeply broken economy and an incredibly warped definition of “innovation.” And tech certainly has a rare ability to further the distance between laborers and their bosses, dehumanizing all of this very human service work."

<snip>

[yallerdawg]

1. The Gig Economy - the future?

Re: "The Grapes of Wrath"

Growing numbers of Americans no longer hold a regular “job” with a long-term connection to a particular business. Instead, they work “gigs” where they are employed on a particular task or for a defined time, with little more connection to their employer than a consumer has with a particular brand of chips. Borrowed from the music industry, the word “gig” has been applied to all sorts of flexible employment (otherwise referred to as “contingent labor,” “temp labor,” or the “precariat”). Some have praised the rise of the gig economy for freeing workers from the grip of employers’ “internal labor markets,” where career advancement is tied to a particular business instead of competitive bidding between employers. Rather than being driven by worker preferences, however, the rise of the gig economy comes from employers’ drive to lower costs, especially during business downturns. Gig workers experience greater insecurity than workers in traditional jobs and suffer from lack of access to established systems of social insurance.

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/23592-the-rise-of-the-gig-economy

[Starry Messenger]

2. Great find yallerdawg--

"Adjunct and Part-Time Professors Are Now a Majority of College Faculty

While many people may think of “day laborers” in construction or office “temps” when they think of contingent workers, few occupations have seen as sharp an increase in contingent labor as teaching in higher education. Adjunct and part-time professors now account for the great majority of college faculty nationwide. Tenured and tenure-track faculty now comprise less than a third of the teaching staff, and teach barely half of all classes. Colleges and universities hire adjunct faculty because they make it possible to more precisely match faculty to the demand for classes, and because adjuncts are paid substantially less

Why Employers Prefer Contingent Workers

Employers prefer contingent labor because it is more “flexible.” Workers can be laid off at any time in response to a decline in sales. Employers can also pay contingent workers less by not offering benefits. By treating many contingent workers as independent contractors, employers avoid paying for government-mandated benefits (the employer’s half of Social Security, unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation, etc.). They also usually exclude contingent workers from employer-provided benefits such as health insurance and pensions. Counting wages and benefits, contingent workers are paid substantially less than workers in traditional jobs and are left much more vulnerable to illness or economic downturns."

I'm an adjunct.

[yallerdawg]

4. I thought 'gig economy' was new.

I think the new description is a political distinction as 'employers' seek alternatives to unionism and government regulation - capital again seeking maximization of profit. As it must!

I think some new proposals by leading Democrats regarding traditional hard-earned employment benefits following the individual rather than the job - just as the Affordable Care Act benefits are tying healthcare to the individual - would be a good step towards maintaining our social security and safety nets regardless of definition of employment status.

The benefit of job freedom would still be available to the worker, but the traditional employer costs would still be applied to the employer's so-called profits.

Whatever you are "called" by your employer should not be an incentive for more profit.

[Starry Messenger]

6. Totally agree with all of your post.

I also think "gig" is a rebranding effort to make "temp" or "on-call" sound cool and progressive. To me, this on-call, service model, is also an attempt to get out of paying even basic regular 8 hour wages.

I was stunned, for instance, when I learned that places like WalMart have associates clock-out when work is slow, and make them wait in the breakroom until the store picks up again, and then have them clock back in to "work."

Other places will send you home after a few hours, but then call you back in to close, etc. Even traditional employers are trying to skim even more profits by defining "work" as specific tasks in the store. If you have to be there at the site, or be on call, you should be paid.

[redruddyred]

13. hey adjunct,

how come uni seems like such a freaking waste of time, and yet is more expensive than ever?
the caliber of teaching is so low.
not you of course, I'm sure you're wonderful, or at least you do your best with the meager resources you are provided.
but it seems like half my math lectures I have to hit up youtube cos the prof's accent is unintelligible.
wasn't this way in community college, whatever does my money buy?

[Starry Messenger]

15. It's going to administration, largely.

This is one of my favorite articles on the subject: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/septemberoctober_2011/features/administrators_ate_my_tuition031641.php?page=all

[redruddyred]

16. thanks for the link

I wonder what kind of people get to occupy these jobs.
I'm working on a professional certification, and it seems that everyone in my class occupies a space like this. it's not entirely clear what they do, although there are a few sensitive and dedicated teachers in the mix. as in "people who actually teach" and not "support staff".
where I come from (red state) no school ever had support staff. not sure if for better or worse.

[CrispyQ]

3. It's a YOYO Economy

The Gig Economy is just a nicer way to say You're On Your Own.

[eppur_se_muova]

5. Someone gave it the name "Desperation Capitalism" ....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026663149
IMHO, we need that to be the name that sticks.

People selling or renting an increasing proportion of what used to be theirs, sacrificing everything just to get ahold of enough cash to get by. What ever happened to the "dignity of labor" ?

[Starry Messenger]

7. People lost sight of the relationship to their boss.

They think their employer is giving them something in exchange for tasks.

In reality, we are working for free for two weeks or a month, or whatever chunk of time, until we are recompensed for our labor. We are the ones giving something for delayed payment.

It's the same way people get confused about pensions. People think those are some lottery benefit that you get after you stop working. In reality, they are delayed payment for services rendered--an agreed upon amount that the employer withholds from you in your working time that you agree you will receive after you leave employment.

We have to stop thinking of our wages as some reward. Our time and labor are the reward to others who are getting a lot more out of the deal.

[redruddyred]

14. I thought that pensions, as well as social security,

had some connection to the investment market.
read that back in the day the money you put into it would magically come out as more money! not sure on the mechanics of this exactly, maybe it was invested in gov't bonds, maybe something else.
anyhow, this could explain the 'black box' mentality.

of course the antidote to our problem here is to stop complaining abt employers, and put them out of business instead. unfortunately, the entreprenieurial mindset is very difficult for most of us who have been raised thru the traditional school system.

[TBF]

8. It may be desperation in that it is (hopefully) in it's last stages

but it sure looks like the same old capitalism to me - chugging along, rewarding the owners, kicking the workers in the a**

We may lose the millenials that are tech-oriented and go into it thinking they will be the owners one day, but I think most of the others who have grown up in recession are figuring out this game and want a change.

[olddots]

9. the turd of free market economy gets polished with new catch phrases

We have a world of clerks and bosses now .

[Old Union Guy]

10. The 'gig' economy?

I've worked that way in the past.

It's the modern high-tech version of the daily shape up at the factory gate.

That is the system that the early unions defeated.

Maybe I'm a little biased on the subject, but I think unions are the solution this time too.

Not that I'm dead set against government intervention, but something systemic like this needs to be fixed from the bottom up.

[Starry Messenger]

11. I agree. I am also biased on the subject of unions too. :)

I am especially resentful of the members of the public who embrace flushing union protection for trendy bullshit that is old wine in new bottles.

"It's the modern high-tech version of the daily shape up at the factory gate." <------perfect. I'm going to steal that when I talk about this with people, if you don't mind.

[Old Union Guy]

12. You're welcome ;) n/t

[ctsnowman]

17. Excellent!