What is the gig economy?
The gig economy is a free market. In this market, people get paid for a project or short-term work without being permanently or long-term employed by a business or employer.
As I said above, the gig economy has existed for many years, but after the Internet, this economy took a new and extensive form.
What does the word gig mean?
While people generally associate the word gig with the world of technology, well, in this matter, gig comes from somewhere else! The term gig originates from the world of performing arts. Where artists such as comedians, musicians, actors, and actresses are paid for their performances, known as “gigs.”
All types of gig jobs
Today, many jobs can be considered gigs. But the most common and famous of them are as follows:
Freelance
Freelancing itself is a broad field. Freelancers provide non-face-to-face clients with content production, graphics, programming, writing, etc.…
Consultation
It doesn’t matter what field it is in; most consultants have several employers instead of one employer and advise several people or different businesses during the month.
Contracting
Contractors work in different fields. For example, some contractors are active in the area of construction, and others are in the field of mining.
Temporary employee
Some employee jobs are even temporary. For example, many accountants provide accounting services to an employer for a short period.
Seasonal worker
Yes, even seasonal workers who show up at a particular place every morning and wait for someone to take them to work for the day are considered part of the gig market.
Has the Internet caused the growth of the gig economy?
We cannot deny that the Internet played a huge role in the gig economy’s growth. But if we want to look deeper, the “economic recession” part is more vital than the Internet! What does it mean?
Looking at every corner of the history of countries during the economic recession, you will notice that the demand for cooperation with part-time and project forces was higher then. For example, in the economic downturn of 1930, many farmers started working this way. Or, for instance, in the 2008 European crisis, we again saw an increase in demand for these jobs and forces.
Corona and the gig economy
The coronavirus was one of the most important things that caused the gig economy’s growth in these few years. Before Corona, the gig economy grew relatively well thanks to the Internet and online tools such as webinar systems. But after Corona, businesses were forced to work remotely with their employees. This issue has gradually encouraged some to fill many job positions with freelancers and project workers.
The best gig economy jobs
If entering the gig field is attractive and you can count on it in the future, I will briefly introduce the best jobs.
Education
One of the money-making jobs! Today, some teachers earn more than 2000 dollars just from selling a training course in a short period, for example, within 2-3 months.
Website design
A beautiful job. Today, active and successful people in the field of website design have more than 30 customers per month, so they have formed their team to meet their needs.
Content Production
Today, content production is done on two platforms. One is creating site content, which means writing an essay like the one you are reading now, and the second is producing content on social networks such as Instagram.
Production of image and video content
Especially after the growth of the web world and internet marketing, businesses’ interest in cooperating with freelancers in photography, photo editing, video editing, etc., has increased.
SEO of the site
Site SEO makes your site visible and entered when users search for a word in Google. SEO today has led to millions of daily profits for many internet businesses. This issue has made the job market of SEO people very hot.
What are the advantages of the gig economy?
Let’s go to the second part of the article and examine the advantages and disadvantages of the gig economy. First, the benefits:
Ease of entry
As you have noticed, entering the gig economy and finding jobs in this field is straightforward. No special legal restrictions and prerequisites exist, including obtaining a degree or license.
The power of choice
Once you become a successful expert in your field, you will have a lot of choices. This means that whenever you want, you can reject an answer from an employer you are not interested in working with, and there will be no compulsion at all.
Diversity
Unlike employees and other people who are permanently engaged in the same job, people in the gig economy field have a lot of work variety due to having different employers.
Independence
One of the essential advantages of these jobs is that it gives people a lot of independence. Most people in this field, especially freelancers, have a lot of time and even place freedom, and they can do their work anywhere and anytime just by carrying a laptop.
Creating opportunities
If you are a successful freelancer, you don’t need to work 8 hours daily to make a decent income. This means you can easily give yourself time to try other jobs and start a business.
What are the disadvantages of the gig economy?
Along with all the advantages, the gig economy has several disadvantages. In the following, I will briefly introduce them to you.
Low income at first
Most of the people who are engaged in the field of gigs have little income at first. Because only a few people know them to give their project to them, they need to have high expertise to demand a high salary.
Lack of benefits
Unlike employees and permanent forces, gig economy forces do not have benefits such as fixed salaries, loans, purchase bans, etc.
Low job security
Considering that in this category of jobs, you do not have an official contract with any employer, your job security is low, and your cooperation with one of them may end at any moment.
Stress
Finally, these jobs are more stressful than regular jobs. The stress of being unemployed, the focus of providing work according to the new client’s taste, the stress of getting paid on time, etc.
Well, we have reached the end of the article. In this article, we learned about the gig economy, got acquainted with its jobs, and examined its advantages and disadvantages. Finally, if you have any comments or questions about this article, I await you in the comments section.