Axios: America’s Hidden Gig Economy

Axios:

“More Americans are working than ever before, but a growing number of them aren’t 9-to-5 employees, nor skilled freelancers who negotiate their compensation.

Between the lines: Instead they are your Uber driver, your DoorDash food deliverer or your Rover dog-walker.

Why it matters: On-demand jobs have become a central cog in our economic growth engine, providing both entry-level jobs and supplemental incomes. They are to 2019 what fast-food work was to 1989. “

It’s going to suck for the Uber drivers and DoorDash deliverers when after spending all that time depreciating their vehicles they are all laid off and replaced by fleets of self-driving cars. It will be great for Goldilocks but what are all those unemployed people going to do then? Are they going to learn to code? The vast majority of the programmers will be unemployed by then as well.

Axios:

“America’s employment data is being skewed by the gig economy, according to a recent paper from the Dallas Federal Reserve.

There’s been an increase in the number of people working as contractors who mistakenly report themselves as employed.

This includes those who should at best be considered underemployed, like the ride-hail driver who only has passengers in the backseat for 30 of his 40 hours in the car.

The bottom line: Government economists haven’t kept up with the changing nature of work, which can play havoc with employment statistics. It also could help explain why America’s low unemployment rate hasn’t been married to significant inflation or faster wage growth.

Duh.

The jobs that are being created in Blompf’s Goldilocks economy are these independent contractor jobs. It is Uber and Lyft drivers who are being paid peanuts to ruin their vehicles. These people have no job security or benefits and are barely making enough money to survive. They won’t even have that gig as a source of income to pay for their HBO subscription in the near future. Fortunately for them, Pete Buttigieg is running for president on being gay and Christian in the 21st century.

Axios:

“U.S. employers currently have just 2 options for classifying their workers: employees and independent contractors. But but but: Neither really suits the on-demand economy.

Employees are considered to be under the control of their employer, which can dictate when and how they perform their work. It’s antithetical to the flexible design of on-demand economy jobs, while the corresponding liabilities are antithetical to on-demand economy business models.

Independent contractors provide goods and services while retaining control over schedule and compensation. But on-demand economy workers clearly don’t have real control over what they’re paid, as evidenced by recent ride-hail driver strikes in Los Angeles after rates were suddenly slashed.”

Employee? Independent contractor? What’s the difference? They’re both wages slaves in a free-market capitalist economy. Most of the employees have better benefits though.

About Hunter Wallace 12379 Articles
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3 Comments

  1. In my state, unemployment benefits are at $275/week and last for 12 weeks. Then, if you don’t find a job, and there’s a lot of competition from those H-1B1 visa holders, it’s off to ma & pa’s basement you go. If they’re still living. If you receive severance or liquidate your own personal assets like a pension or other retirement fund in order to stay afloat, then unemployment is not paid out until all those funds are exhausted. Who can live on $275/week? For a single… doubt it. For a family of 2 or more… you’re below poverty level ($16,910).

    The 99% is being screwed 24/7 by their public servants!!!

    Is this hellhole really worth saving? They probably live better in Russia.

  2. These unemployment statistics are as much pure crap, as anything that comes from the government, which is really saying something. They don’t count people who are long term unemployed, before Trump showed up, the figure was put as high as ninety million. It’s hard to say what it actually is. I do know they have not created ninety million jobs in the last two years. One of the main tasks of the media is to cheer lead for the economy, it doesn’t matter who’s in power. They are also expected to cheer lead for wars, which they do, all the time.

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