The “gig economy” is a free-market system in which businesses hire independent short-term workers to perform specific assignments. The term comes from the world of musicians or comedians, who are paid for their individual performances – called “gigs”. Have a look at the conversation below and highlight the words and phrases you might find useful when discussing this topic.
Expressions in context
Harry and Karen are old friends. They haven’t seen each other for a while but have now met for a coffee to catch up.
Karen: It’s been ages since we’ve had the chance to chat. How are you doing? I heard you were made redundant a couple of months ago.
Harry: Not too bad. It was a shock to get the boot from Sawyers. But they had to lay off loads of people – not just me.
Karen: So, how are you and Jean making ends meet?
Harry: Well, Jean is a civil servant, so her income is nice and regular. And I’ve joined the gig economy!
Karen: Isn’t that rather precarious? What on earth are you doing?
Harry: I’ve got several irons in the fire. I use the car to work for two delivery companies and a taxi firm. We also rent out our granny flat on Airbnb.
Karen: How does all that work?
Harry: The companies use apps to hire you and assign the work. I have to juggle between the different requests.
Karen: That sounds rather stressful.
Harry: It’s certainly not as easy as a nine-to-five job. And the pay is not brilliant, either. But it’s not bad if you put the hours in. And the flat brings in a tidy sum, too, as we’re right in the centre of town.
Karen: Do you do the cleaning and washing when guests leave?
Harry: Jean and I share that work. At least the kids have flown the nest now. That means we have some time to spare.
Karen: Funnily enough, I might be getting on the bandwagon and joining you in the gig economy! I’ve started making jewellery at home and I’m thinking of using an e-commerce platform like Etsy to sell it.
Remember!
In the gig economy, employers contract people to do projects, without having to pay overhead costs like office space, training, holiday pay or sick leave.
For the gig worker, the situation has pros and cons:
- Gig workers can decide what type of jobs they want to do and where and when they want to do them.
- Gig workers do not get involved in office politics or the daily routines that nine-to-five workers have.
- In the gig economy, you can create a wide variety of tasks for yourself that you enjoy doing. A gig worker is not usually bored!
- But being a gig worker can be stressful – especially if the work is not coming in. You need to be constantly looking for the next “gig”. The pay is usually poor, so you need multiple gigs to make a living.
- Gig workers are responsible for managing their own tax affairs, as well as their health and retirement benefits.
- In the UK, an estimated five million people work in the gig economy, many as couriers or food deliverers.
- It is estimated that around 57 million Americans have one or more gig jobs.
Word to go...
The word “nice” is often used to give weight to another adjective. Here, Harry doesn’t mean Jean has a nice salary. He is saying that it’s regular, which is very helpful under the circumstances.