The Emergence of the "Gig" Worker
A new world of workers and a surge in what may be the next industry phenomenon
By Dr. Rodney Luster
Ah, the idyllic dream of giving up the 9 to 5 work week and simply doing a job on our terms. A place where there is no manager constantly over your shoulder, unlimited autonomy, no organizational politics to put up with, and no fighting for raises during annual reviews. Yes, the entrepreneurial dream takes hold of my senses now with such imagery. I can envision my day beginning as I take in the scent of new leather from a well-crafted satchel I throw over one shoulder, embarking out the door for a wonderful day under the tapestry of blue skies. Down the street, a local coffee shop beckons me as part of my morning ritual.
Along the way, I pass a quaint bistro where wrought iron tables and flowers glaze the outside of the establishment like an old French Café. It is there I will soon meet the first of my new clients. But before that, a latte awaits at my usual spot! After ordering, I place my belongings on a table near the window and pull out the old laptop while, out of the corner of my eye, I catch a glimpse of the steam emanating from my beverage. I sip while taking a few notes, enjoying the subtle and gentle tapping of the keys which begins mingling with the low hum of the shop. It is quite the image, but not necessarily the reality.
According to McKinsey’s 2022 American Opportunity Survey, 36 percent of those employed who responded to their survey, an otherwise estimated 58 million Americans, now identify as “independent workers.” That is quite staggering when you think about it. But all is not sunshine and healthy living in the gig economy. As I remember the term “gig,” I am reminded of its emergence from the 20th-century Jazz era as slang for what was meant as landing a single performance in a club.
The term, however, has taken on new meaning over the years. Sociologically, the duality of patterning inherent to human language allows for the adoption of new meanings in the evolution of a word. And today, the word “gig” is also applicable to short-term or temporary employment across a span of industries where one may seek work, bid on contracts, and ultimately complete the work.
Once a person lands a gig, they must attempt to quickly form, sustain, or disband relationships in tandem. The term “Gig-worker” or “Gigger” has also been used by media to describe one of the prominent seminal events in our culture today, which is the advent of a new way of working and living in what has been referred to as the “Gig Economy" (Kuhn, 2016). The gig economy, as defined by McKinsey and Company (2023), a strategy and management consulting firm, is as “a workforce of people engaged in freelance and side-hustle work.”
To this end, the gig economy is a form of “piece-rate” pay that links pay directly to the delivery and quantity of goods produced. This was evidenced in the 1980’s and 90’s, otherwise known as the formative “pre-gig era” (Davis & Hoyt, 2020). However, in today’s digital platform era, such delivery transcends what we used to think of as “material goods” produced, where effort and now quality of goods are highly relevant to the hiring of a “gig-worker” or freelancer (Ashford et al. 2018). The world of gigging, nevertheless, has various dimensions to it, such as context, which determines quite a bit – especially for those who are highly skilled versus lower-skilled gig workers who must survive by patching work assignments together.
Such varying “lay of the land” context is further complicated by temporal, physical, and business attachments to organizations (Spreitzer et.al., 2017). Although some independent contractors may have a high degree of flexibility, others are at the mercy of those who employ them or must contend with broad gaps in time between the next paying gig (Barley & Kunda, 2006). Gigging may also take many forms such as ride-hailing or delivery driving [think Uber, Lyft or Doordash] to online developers and content creators who use services like Guru.com and Fiverr.com to gain contractual work.
Roots of the "Gig" Economy
We can locate the building blocks of the gig economy in two known eras, the “Great Recession” and the "Sharing Economy" which was a time when people made do with what they had, and instead of buying needed items like tools or other resources, may have instead, borrowed them from a neighbor. Today, such brief and needed exchanges have mushroomed into a business pioneering opportunity for many. One of the bigger surges occurred during the pandemic in early 2020, which ushered in the importance of being able to rely on gig workers more than ever before to deliver food and services without much of the general public having to step foot in a store. Now, the phenomenal shift moves yet again, as many in the tech industry have currently been experiencing what has been recently dubbed the “Great Betrayal.”
This saturation of workers represents another push into the “gig” network, as those in tech who were hired due to demand during the pandemic have since been met with a sudden loss of employment, where companies are now pulling back on their needs post-pandemic.
In the world of research, we are perhaps beginning to learn a lot more these days about what it means to make a living as an independent contractor or “gig worker.”According to McKinsey’s 2022 American Opportunity Survey, 36 percent of those employed who responded to their survey, an otherwise estimated 58 million Americans, now identify as “independent workers.” That measure is quite staggering to consider. And amidst this great migration, with all its touted possibilities, not all is sunshine and healthy living.
What is yet to be understood and researched is the "psychological dynamics" of gig workers who must learn to cope on their own in an era where job instability and a harsh economy set the precedents for breeding new problems and issues that are already beginning to surface. With the oscillation of gig work being sometimes predictable, and other times unpredictable, challenges such as financial precarity, existential loneliness, emotional angst, difficulty securing work, challenges maintaining relationships, imperatives of marketing, managing one's physical health, and more can play havoc. In part II of this blog on gig working, we will look at what will be required of the gig worker in the coming years, what matters, and why it is important for their own sustainability.
References
Barley, S. R., & Kunda, G. (2006). Contracting: A New Form of Professional Practice. The Academy of Management Perspectives, 20(1), 45–66.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2019.10.021
Davis, M. E., & Hoyt, E. (2020). A longitudinal study of piece rate and health: evidence and implications for workers in the US gig economy. Public Health, 180, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2019.10.021
Kuhn, K. M. (2016). The rise of the “gig economy” and implications for understanding work and workers. Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice, 9(1), 157–162. https://doi.org/10.1017/iop.2015.129
McKinsey & Company. (2023, August 2). What is the gig economy? | McKinsey. https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-explainers/what-is-the-gig-economy
Spreitzer, G. M., Cameron, L., & Garrett, L. (2017). Alternative Work Arrangements: Two Images of the New World of Work. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 4(1), 473–499. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-032516-113332
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. Rodney Luster
Dr. Rodney Luster has been with the University since 2012. Rodney Luster is the Senior Director of Research Strategy, Innovation, and Development for the Research Center Enterprise (RSE) within the College of Doctoral Studies. In this role, Dr. Luster helps lead innovation in research, as well as connecting the pragmatics of research to industry as well as communicating out the research potentials inside the RSE. In addition, he also oversees the , is Chair for the Committee on Research [COR], as well as Chairing the Center for Leadership Studies and Organizational Research, in addition to serving as Lead Designer for the research periodical called The Phoenix Scholar.
Dr. Luster also runs a private therapy practice called Inspirethought LLC. and is a regular writer for "Psychology Today" with his blog called "More than a Feeling" which has engaged over 370,000 readers.