Gigged: The Gig Economy, the End of the Job and the Future of Work

quit. As the company lowered rates, a bigger and bigger portion of their per-mile earnings was automatically deducted from their checks to pay for the car they’d acquired to do the job.

unemployed Americans received unemployment benefits from state programs—

“Because contingent work can be unstable, or may afford fewer worker protections depending on a worker’s particular employment arrangement, it tends to lead to lower earnings, fewer benefits, and a greater reliance on public assistance than standard work.”8

But low-wage workers have historically been hurt rather than helped by the trend away from employees.

am not poor. I am just … nobody.”

to have workers run the platform.

But to earn those guaranteed wages, drivers needed to accept 90% of ride requests and be online 50 out of every 60 minutes worked.

idea—cooperatives—

and the majority are doing it full-time because they need the money.”