The gig economy describes a labour market made up of workers completing specific tasks for clients, with agreed and expected outcomes.
These gigs are applicable to all spectrums of the economy, though currently most popular in IT and creative industries.
It is reported that 55 million people in the US are gig workers, which is more than 36% of US workforce. This is expected to exceed 43% by 2020.
What are the pro’s & cons to the gig economy?
Customer/Gig Lister
Pros- Lower costs hiring freelancers compared to permanent workers as you only pay for what you need and when you need them
- Working with multiple, diverse highly skilled freelancers and/or contractors
- The ability to scale easily as business grows
- Finding reliable trustworthy & skilled gig workers, freelancers or contractors
Freelancer/Gig Worker
Pros- Higher independence & variety of work
- Flexible lifestyle (location/hours)
- In general more money that permanent equivalent (less business overhead)
- Supplementary income
- Opportunity to validate the viability of a new business/passion idea
- Less stability & benefits compared to permanent workers (job security)
- Not paid for training/development
- Chasing work (time and money)
- Managing your tax and accounting
- Insurance specific to your needs
What is the gigexchange doing to help?
We want to provide solutions to all the ‘cons’.
As a platform for all ways of working, we have a dynamic and active ecosystem of buyers and sellers of work alike.
Our vision is of gigs complementing the needs of jobs or contracts, not replacing. We want gigs to be a choice, not a must.
At the gigexchange we are here to help businesses and workers increase their wealth, by driving down the cost of business through our fair service fee pricing and low advertising costs. Ensuring most of the money you earn goes into your back pocket.
By providing a reputation/feedback service we will promote those offering an honest, hard working and suitably skilled service.
By partnering with a leading global Payment Gateway (Stripe) we provide a safe/secure/independant solution limiting exploit around payments and reducing time wasters or scammers when it comes to payment.
Through Stripe, we also provide a comprehensive ‘Know Your Customer’ validation solution, reducing the risk associated to fraud, safety and identity.
By partnering with leading training providers, we want to offer additional learning and development opportunities for all our workers.
By partnering with leading finance providers, we can provide financing solutions as well as customer discounts and offerings.