Gig Economy

Rooted in flexibility and on-demand, project-based jobs, it provides opportunities for both side hustles and full-time income streams, appealing especially to younger generations seeking greater autonomy over traditional office roles. While gig work offers freedoms like flexible hours and project choice, it often lacks benefits like healthcare and retirement plans.

These “gigs” are often temporary or flexible tasks, such as driving for Uber. Colloquially, the term “gig economy” usually refers to people doing jobs where they connect with people who request their services through an app.

A chainsaw. Ten live lobsters. A mannequin head with human hair. These are just a few curious items passengers left behind in Ubers this year, according to Uber itself. Uber is among the largest gig economy platforms in the US, with a valuation of roughly $150B as of 2024.

In the consulting firm McKinsey’s 2022 “American Opportunity Survey,” 36% of employed respondents (about 58 million Americans) classified themselves as “independent workers.” But they’re not all thrilled about their current professional status.

Gig work has entered the healthcare realm. Nurses can now drop into shifts at medical facilities with the same ease as a ride-share driver accepting a rider.

In this podcast episode, the hosts sit down with NerdWallet Senior News Editor Rick VanderKnyff, a gig economy expert who explains why the sector grew during the COVID-19 pandemic, what defines a gig worker, how gig workers handle their finances, and more.

In the novel, the author wrote about “free-lances:” mercenary soldiers who were “free” to use their weapons (called, yes, “lances”) in service of whoever paid them the most. A video details that story and other gig economy basics.

That includes people driving for Lyft or delivering food through GrubHub. Those people might be changing the face of the US economy at large, too. Gig work provides a cushion between jobs outside of government unemployment assistance, for example.

In an interview, she explains that gig economy workers come in two groups: people who are earning supplemental income on the side of a full-time job, and people who depend on gig work for their entire incomes. As it turns out, those groups feel very differently about the gig economy.

Overall, Gen Z has a pretty different attitude about work from previous generations, partly because of the economic hardship they’ve witnessed being born into the Great Recession and coming of age during the COVID-19 pandemic.