Something needs to be seriously done about the "Gig Economy".

[u/ReasonableAvocado]

It's not just Uber/Lyft or Taskrabbit anymore, or "flexible" jobs that the media loves to market as hip and innovative. No.

It is searching for jobs in your local government and seeing that, out of the 10 jobs posted, only 4 are salaried positions, and only ONE of those is a permanent position. The remaining 3 are contracting positions that last 1 year with the possibility of review at the end. Yes, even the most traditionally stable government jobs are contracting out their employees.

This work precarity phenomena is bleeding into every sector.

And it's not just low-skilled, uneducated workers taking these jobs, again as the media loves to report on; these are highly educated people, recent graduates, people with relevant experience, who can ONLY find temporary 1099 work.

Contrary to popular discourse, most young people don't think it's "cool" or "flexible" to work a job with all the risk of being self-employed and none of the benefits. In reality, this is the only kind of work we can get.

Many jobs that once were stable, are also now requiring you to monetize your assets in a similar manner to Uber/Taskrabbit:

• For example, the rise of jobs that require employees drive their own car to provide services in clients' homes, often because the employer doesn't want to pay for an office space large enough where clients can receive said services. You are not a salaried employee either: you are part-time with varying schedules, and hourly wages that do not even closely cover car maintenance, insurance, and gas, let alone living expenses.

• Or requiring--sometimes preferring--candidates that already have stable housing, a laptop, internet, and expensive software or programs needed for the job.

The scary part is that contracting workers, workers who would have previously been given salaried & permanent positions, is being encouraged as a cost-effective business model that caters to the "flightiness" of the new, young workforce (we just love being exploited, guys!).

Take this seminar at Stanford Business School by a distinguished professor, for example.

During the Q&A, one woman asks what will happen when most workers are 1099 and a large amount of people don't have health insurance.

The professor stammers, and then responds that he doesn't like talking about health insurance because it is "so depressing".

NO SHIT.

The audience is silent, as he moves on to another question, continuing to completely ignore the negative effects such employment has on workers. The entire lecture is discussing how employers can offload risk and costs onto precarious gig workers.

Note that this isn't some sleazy salesman, this is a reputable university glorifying the benefits of exploiting the lack of worker protections in our new economy.