Non-standard work exists across a wide range of occupations. It may include designing websites, delivering food, management consulting, walking dogs, farming, and more. Almost any work can be part of the gig economy, depending on how it is arranged.
Construction and professional services take the lead
Gig work can—and does—happen in almost any industry, from oil extraction to healthcare. Across surveys, the construction industry has the highest percentage of non-standard work arrangements: almost a quarter of construction workers are in alternative work arrangements. Gig work in the construction industry, though, is not new. Carpenters, installers, electricians, and plumbers have tended to work independently for decades. Professional and business services, a diverse category that includes accountants, architects, janitors, and administrative support workers, have similarly had a high yet relatively stable rate of independent arrangements.1 Arts and creative workers have also long been gig workers.
- 1. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Contingent and Alternative Employment Arrangements – May 2017” (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Labor, 2018), https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/conemp.pdf;" Gitis, Ben, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, and Will Rinehart, “The Gig Economy: Research and Policy Implications of Regional, Economic, and Demographic Trends” (Washington, DC: American Action Forum and Aspen Institute’s Future of Work Initiative, 2017), https://www.americanactionforum.org/research/gig-economy-research-policy-implications-regional-economic-demographic-trends/. See also Prudential, “Gig Workers in America – Profiles, Mindsets, and Financial Wellness” (Newark, NJ: 2017), https://www.prudential.com/media/managed/documents/rp/Gig_Economy_Whitepaper.pdf; FreshBooks, “Second Annual Self-Employment Report” (Toronto, ON: 2018), https://www.freshbooks.com/_themes/freshbooks/brand-assets/2018selfemploymentreport.pdf.
Rates of growth vary across industries
Other industries have experienced growth in the past decade. The transportation industry has seen an increase in the number of workers in alternative arrangements, and especially independent contracting, in the past twenty years.1 It is likely that rideshare platforms like Uber and Lyft are behind much of this increase.
- 1. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Contingent and Alternative Employment Arrangements – May 2017"