The myth of the gig economy?

Says Doug Henwood:

Despite the voluble testimony of pundits and bar companions, the world of work is not one of Uber drivers and temp workers. In fact, the share of U.S. employment accounted for by contingent and “alternative” arrangements is lower now than it was in 2005 and 1995.....

“Alternative” workers are better off. Full-time independent contractors make 96% as much as noncontingent full-timers; contract workers (heavily used in tech) make 22% more. Temp workers—0.9% of the workforce—are much worse off, however, making 41% less than the traditionally employed. About three-quarters of independent contractors have employer-provided health insurance, but only two-thirds of temp workers do.

None of this is to argue that the world of work is a delight. But we should be clear about what the problems are. Precarity isn’t the major problem in the American labor market. It’s that wages are stagnant or worse, benefits are eroding, and much labor is dull, alienating, pointless, and sometimes dangerous. Many people with normal, full-time jobs have a hard time making ends meet, and most households have little or no savings to fall back on in a crisis. Emphasizing precarity only makes workers feel even more powerless than they are.

https://lbo-news.com/2018/06/07/no-its-not-a-gig-economy/

complete and utter horseshit

(FWIW a common source of bias in these surveys is people over-representing their employment, for a number of reasons: shame, denial, lying [a lot of market research surveys, though obviously not the same thing, will outright disqualify anyone who says they don't work full time]. this in addition to the usual sources of bias -- a lot of undocumented workers would qualify as "independent contractors" but are less likely to be picked up by the sampling, for obvious reasons)

but don't just take my word for it https://www.princeton.edu/~amas/papers/RGB.August.pdf

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51KmRVF81jL._SX379_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

idgi

Precarity isn’t the major problem in the American labor market. It’s that wages are stagnant or worse, benefits are eroding, and much labor is dull, alienating, pointless, and sometimes dangerous.

That is sloppy thinking and sloppy writing.

He doesn't argue precarity isn't a problem, because it clearly is a widespread problem that affects significant numbers of people in fundamental ways. Instead he concludes it isn't "the major problem".

Then he goes on to identify "the major problem", except "the major problem" isn't one thing; it is a laundry list of several different problems, from which he has arbitrarily excluded precarity.

not being european

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/12/12/workers-are-ghosting-their-employers-like-bad-dates/

Some employees are simply young and restless, said James Cooper, former manager of the Old Faithful Inn at Yellowstone Park, where he said people ghosted regularly.

A few of his staffers were college students who lived in park dormitories for the summer.

“My favorite,” he said, “was a kid who left a note on the floor in his dorm room that said ‘sorry bros, had to ghost.’”

Other ghosters describe an inner voice that just says: Nah.

Zach Keel, a 26-year-old server in Austin, made the call last year to flee a Texas bar-slash-cinema after realizing he would have to clean the place until sunrise. More work, he calculated, was always around the corner.

“I didn’t call,” Keel said. “I didn’t show up. I figured: No point in feeling guilty about something that wasn’t that big of an issue. Turnover is so high, anyway."

JFC, did that ever not happen in shit jobs?

Now that the young are vocally not-grateful for the chance to be a slave it’s a Trend

Subheader: "Silent Exits are On the Rise"
Body: "National data on economic “ghosting” is lacking."

after realizing he would have to clean the place until sunrise.

what are the odds his employer expected this job to get done to a high standard, but limited the hours for which the worker would be paid to an arbitrary amount of time?

i lold

DREW DREW DOLLAR$: THE GIG ECONOMY

- you need to get to work on your commute to work! But how? We got ya covered! pic.twitter.com/gr2tyIWjyE

— Drew Morgan (@drewmorgcomedy) February 16, 2021