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Digging Into the Gig Economy 2016 DIGGING INTO THE GIG ECONOMY 2016 Digging Into the Gig Economy 2016 | Page 1 DIGGING INTO THE GIG ECONOMY There has been a significant focus recently on companies with a new kind of business model, such as Uber and TaskRabbit, which use technology to manage a fleet of independent contractors to complete on-demand jobs. Often called “gig economy companies” as short-hand for the individual gigs their workers accept, many of these companies have scaled incredibly quickly. Some now have multi-billion dollar valuations. Despite the increasing impact of these companies on the economy, it is currently unclear what percentage of workers are part of the gig economy, as data on the percentage of contingent workers and independent contractors was last collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2005*. We conducted research to gain insight into the number of workers participating in the gig economy, how workers evaluate their work experience, and how the population at large perceives such employment opportunities. * “Working in a Gig Economy”, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Career Outlook, Torpey & Hogan, May 2016 Digging Into the Gig Economy 2016 | Page 2 KEY FINDINGS For the purposes of this survey, we defined a gig economy company as one which provides freelance, on-demand work opportunities. From our survey of 3,741 American adults, we learned the following about these jobs: • Just over half (53%) of Americans are at least somewhat gig economy job say it was better than traditional familiar with gig economy companies and 3 in 10 employment, and 4 in 5 of those who have not worked Americans consider themselves extremely, or very, these jobs say they believe the experience is at least as familiar with these companies. good as traditional employment. • 12% of Americans have worked a gig economy job and • While more than half (56%) of all Americans say the another 11% would consider taking a gig economy job. most appropriate function of these jobs is to earn a supplemental income, a majority of those who have • Ridesharing service drivers are the most common type taken one see the most important function of gig of gig economy job with 50% of these workers taking economy jobs as either full-time work (43%) or a job driving jobs. loss stop gap (20%). • Gig economy workers are working hard. Nearly half • Word of mouth (36%) is the most common way (47%) of gig economy workers are working over 40 Americans are hearing about these companies. Nearly hours per week. half (48%) of those who have worked for one of these • Job availability (33%) and good pay (33%) were the companies heard the most about them from others. most important factors for gig economy workers when • Just over a quarter (26%) of Americans have seen ads deciding whether to take these jobs. recruiting workers for these companies. Uber is the • Americans have positive views of gig economy jobs. most recognized recruiter by a wide margin. Over 7 in 10 (71%) Americans who have worked a We hope that you will enjoy the report and welcome your feedback! –The Fluent Research Team [email protected] Digging Into the Gig Economy 2016 | Page 3 JUST OVER HALF (53%) OF AMERICANS ARE AT LEAST SOMEWHAT FAMILIAR WITH GIG ECONOMY COMPANIES 3 in 10 Americans consider themselves extremely, or very, familiar with gig economy companies. HOW FAMILIAR ARE YOU WITH COMPANIES WHICH PROVIDE FREELANCE ON-DEMAND WORK OPPORTUNITIES, SUCH AS UBER OR TASKRABBIT? 30% 32% 25% 20% 23% 15% 16% 15% 14% 10% 5% 0 Extremely Very familiar Somewhat Not very Not at all familiar familiar familiar familiar 12% of Americans Have Worked For Gig Economy Companies; Another 11% Would Consider Working for One HAVE YOU EVER DONE WORK FOR A IF NOT WORKED FOR COMPANY: COMPANY WHICH PROVIDES FREELANCE WOULD YOU CONSIDER WORKING FOR ON-DEMAND WORK OPPORTUNITIES, ONE OF THESE COMPANIES AS AN SUCH AS UBER OR TASKRABBIT? INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR? Yes No Yes No 12% 13% 77% 88% 87% Digging Into the Gig Economy 2016 | Page 4 GIG ECONOMY WORKERS CONSIDER MEETING NEW PEOPLE TO BE THE MOST ATTRACTIVE ASPECT OF THE JOB Meeting new people and a flexible schedule are the most liked aspects of the job for those who have worked for a gig economy company or would consider doing so. The rest of the population thinks not having a boss is what they would like best. WHAT DID YOU, OR WOULD YOU, LIKE BEST ABOUT THE JOB YOU DID AS AN INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR FOR ONE OF THESE COMPANIES? All Worked Would Consider Would Not Consider 40% 42% 39% 30% 35% 32% 30% 28% 20% 26% 25% 20% 19% 8% 10% 16% 7% 6% 6% 5% 11% 3% 3% 3% 10% 10% 10% 6% 0 Meeting new Flexible Feeling useful No boss Competitive Tax benefits people schedule pay The least attractive aspects of working for these companies are low compensation and no benefits. WHAT DID YOU, OR WOULD YOU, LIKE LEAST ABOUT THE JOB YOU DID AS AN INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR FOR ONE OF THESE COMPANIES? All Worked Would Consider Would Not Consider 40% 38% 30% 37% 35% 29% 20% 27% 23% 19% 18% 10% 17% 17% 9% 10% 16% 6% 6% 6% 14% 14% 5% 5% 13% 13% 5% 5% 4% 4% 3% 3% 0 Low No benefits Limited job No career Liability for Complex Complex compensation stability development mishaps rules to taxes follow Digging Into the Gig Economy 2016 | Page 5 HALF OF WORKERS IN THE GIG ECONOMY HAVE WORKED FOR RIDESHARING SERVICES IN WHICH INDUSTRY HAVE YOU WORKED FOR ONE OF THESE COMPANIES? Ride sharing service 50% (e.g. Uber, Lyft) Food delivery services 13% (Seamless, GrubHub, etc.) Home services 10% (TaskRabbit, Handy, etc.) Retail same-day delivery 8% (Amazon Prime, Curbside, etc.) Beauty/health services (e.g. Unwind Me, Zeel) 3% Parking (e.g. Luxe Valet, Valter) 2% Other 14% 0 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% MOST GIG ECONOMY WORKERS WORK EXTENDED HOURS & HAVE WORKED SUCH JOBS IN THE LAST MONTH Nearly half (47%) of those who have worked for these More than half (51%) of those who have worked for gig companies have put in a full-time work week of over 40 economy companies have done so in the past month, hours. Another 15% worked at least 20 hours when they including nearly 2 in 5 (37%) in the past week. last worked for one of these companies. WHEN YOU HAVE WORKED FOR ONE OF THESE WHEN DID YOU MOST RECENTLY WORK COMPANIES, HOW MANY HOURS HAVE YOU FOR ONE OF THESE COMPANIES? WORKED IN A TYPICAL WEEK? 50% This week 47% 40% This month This quarter 30% 30% This year 37% Over a year ago 20% 15% 10% 14% 11% 17% 14% 5% 6% 0 None Over 40 20 to 40 10 to 20 5 to 10 2% Less than 5 In hours Digging Into the Gig Economy 2016 | Page 6 MOST GIG ECONOMY WORKERS SAY THEIR JOBS ARE BETTER THAN TRADITIONAL WORK OPPORTUNITIES Nearly half (46%) of gig economy workers report their experience to be much better than traditional work opportunities and 71% say their gig economy experience is at least somewhat better. Only 13% rate their experience as worse. Compared with companies that offer traditional work opportunities, gig economy companies receive similar positive ratings from workers for their compensation as well as their overall work experience. IF WORKED: How you would you rate your experience working for such companies compared with more traditional work opportunities? IF WORKED: How you would you rate the compensation you received working for these companies compared with more traditional work opportunities? Much better Experience 46% 25% 16% 7% 6% Somewhat better About the same Somewhat worse Much worse Compensation 45% 26% 19% 6% 4% NON-PARTICIPANTS IN THE GIG ECONOMY WORKFORCE HAVE POSITIVE OR NEUTRAL VIEWS OF SUCH WORK Most non-participants in the gig economy perceive the work experience and compensation to be better (43% work experience, 40% compensation) or about the same (37%, 36%) as traditional jobs, although their ratings are somewhat lower than gig economy workers. IF NOT WORKED: How do you think the experience working for such companies compares with more traditional work opportunities? IF NOT WORKED: How do you think the compensation received working for these companies compares with more traditional work opportunities? Much better Experience 19% 24% 37% 9% 11% Somewhat better About the same Somewhat worse Much worse Compensation 15% 25% 36% 13% 11% Digging Into the Gig Economy 2016 | Page 7 PEOPLE MOST OFTEN HEAR ABOUT GIG ECONOMY WORK THROUGH WORD OF MOUTH Nearly half (48%) of those who have worked in the gig Those who have not participated in the gig economy economy have heard the most about this work through workforce have heard the most about these jobs from word-of-mouth. Television, print and radio ads were the top word-of-mouth (37%), followed by television (17%) and source of information for at least 10% of these workers. online ads (16%). WHERE HAVE YOU HEARD THE MOST ABOUT WORK AS AN INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR FOR ONE OF THESE COMPANIES? All Worked Would Consider Would Not Consider 50% 49% 40% 48% 30% 36% 32% 20% 23% 18% 8% 7% 7% 17% 17% 6% 10% 6% 6% 16% 16% 5% 5% 5% 5% 4% 3% 2% 2% 2% 2% 2% 11% 1% 1% 1% 11% 8% 7% 7% 6% 0 Word of Television Online ad Print ad Radio ad Ad on Billboard Email Direct mail mouth ad Facebook promotion Just over 1 in 4 (26%) Americans and nearly half (48%) who have worked gig economy jobs have seen ads for such jobs.
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