The gig economy 2.0?
The rise of businesses like Uber, Airtasker and numerous vertical market specialists has been heralded as the death of employment as we know it. Anybody on a wage is worried that this signals a race to the bottom. Will all workers in future be part of the “precariat” – dependent on short term contracts or assignments?
Maybe, not so much.
Firstly, the contractor model is under legal attack in many jurisdictions as being a means of avoiding tax, labour laws or various compliance obligations.
Secondly, there is a new wave of service platforms that realise that employing staff is better when it comes to training and controlling service levels and the customer experience. Who woulda thought that it might not be easy to get a contractor to sing from the company hymn book?
To the customer, companies like Luxe (valet parking), Eden (tech support), and Sprig (food delivery) look like the now familiar on demand businesses that we have come to know and love. But the service is actually delivered by paid employees.
None of the newer generation of businesses has achieved the explosive growth of the now “classic” model. But, just maybe, its worth trading off growth for a sustainable, ethical and legal business?
For more information read, “These Startups Are Ditching the Uber Model and Hiring Full-Time Workers“