As the gig economy grows, various implications for the American workforce depending on income levels
The gig economy expands beyond just delivery services, as it also encompasses retail workers, part-time nurses, and white-collar workers, and gig work has become increasingly more prevalent with the rise in technologies to assist flexible employment opportunities. As a result, it has become easier for workers to be misclassified as independent contractors and excluded from the protections of the Fair Labor Standards Act. It has also become more challenging to accurately track and measure how many Americans are working in the gig economy because there are so many varying definitions of gig work. While independent high earners are better positioned to benefit from flexible work schedules to improve work-life balance, low earners are often forced into more precarious freelance work as companies looking to cut costs are offering fewer full-time positions. These flexible work arrangements present many potential impacts on the future of work and the American workforce.
See "As the gig economy grows, various implications for the American workforce depending on income levels ", Lauren Hillgers , New York Times Magazine, April 13, 2023