The Rise of the Gig Economy

With the development and application of technology, various innovative business models have emerged one after another, especially with the rise of the platform transaction model, which connects people, organizations, and resources through the Internet to directly match the supply and demand sides, and promote more commodities or products. Service transactions form a huge interactive ecological network, and at the same time change the traditional work pattern.

The Rise of the Gig Economy:

Individuals provide services and goods through various online platforms, and enterprises can use new employment models to reduce personnel and transaction costs and to find suitable candidates more easily. The world is entering a declining birthrate and an aging society, coupled with changes in the demographic structure, driving the gradual rise of the gig economy. In addition to changes in personal work values, digital technology has driven more and more remote work. Companies can hire freelancers from all over the world to complete project work, and freelancers can participate through remote collaboration. Job assignments that fit your professional skills everywhere.

What is the Gig Economy?

The gig economy means an economic model in which self-employed people make a living by taking on short-term jobs. Each job is referred to as gig work and is dominated by short-term contracts or freelance work on a case-by-case basis.

Some friends will use their spare time to take freelance jobs on online platforms to earn extra money. Many people are fully committed to the gig economy, treating gig jobs as full-time. Common examples of gig jobs include transportation, food delivery, courier, etc. There are professional services such as consultants, designers, writers, illustrators, etc.

Types of Jobs in the Gig Economy?

• Online matching, offline provision of services/products:
  Common ones include transport drivers, sales, or event promoters, such as book fair promoters, trade fair assistants, etc. In addition to retail, occupations with higher thresholds or technical requirements have also begun to move towards odd jobs, such as finance, post-secondary education, and IT industries that employ many contract employees.
• Matching and delivery of services/products are conducted online:
  Such as filling out questionnaires, or data entry staff.

The Impact of the Gig Economy:

The flexibility that workers crave, enabled by the internet and technology, is the key to the accelerated growth of the gig economy. The booming gig economy is an irreversible trend that affects individuals and businesses at different levels. Enterprises are more flexible in terms of employment, which can help save expenses such as employee benefits, office space, and employee training. And can also respond to seasonal market needs and hire professionals at any time to complete specific business projects without paying high fixed wages. However, it is easier to encounter disputes over rights and obligations due to inconsistent expectations between the two parties, as well as increasing the difficulty of personnel management. It is necessary to develop new concepts of operation and management.

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Gig Economy for Employers:

For employers, the biggest benefit of the gig economy is lower operating costs. In the gig economy, work is broken down into individual projects and then assigned to different people to complete. Employers only need to hire self-employed persons, and there is no employment relationship between the two parties. Therefore, employers do not need to provide related benefits, such as medical insurance, MPF, and year-end bonuses. The number of full-time employees required by the company can be reduced as freelance workers take over the work. As a result, the space required for full-time employees who are residents in the office can be reduced and replaced by a hot desk system.

Since migrant workers only take jobs, they may not have a deep understanding of the company. Employers need to spend time explaining the work content, style, and detailed requirements to employees. At the same time, because most of the employees are self-employed, the connection with the company is limited to a single job, and the sense of belonging to the company is low. Due to the different backgrounds of employees, the quality of work may vary. Employers need to be mentally prepared.

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Gig Economy for Migrant Workers:

For migrant workers, the benefit of the gig economy is flexibility. Gig workers can freely choose jobs, locations, working hours, etc. With a high degree of freedom. In addition, the gig economy has broken educational and living restrictions. For example, students can choose lower-skilled jobs and work without academic or professional qualifications. Retirees, housewives, etc. May find it difficult to find part-time jobs on weekdays, but now they can make good use of their spare time to earn extra money.

Gig workers don't have a fixed monthly salary and are only paid for completing projects, so those who want to work as full-time gig workers need to be cautious. In addition, because there is no formal employment relationship with the platform company, there are usually no employee benefits in short-term contracts, which are less guaranteed than full-time and part-time jobs, and are difficult to write on resumes.