gig economy
Short-term work system
The gig economy is a labor market characterized by short-term contracts and freelance work rather than permanent employment.
Workers piece together income from multiple sources—driving for rideshare apps, delivering food, freelancing online—without traditional benefits like health insurance or paid leave.
She cobbled together a living in the gig economy.
The term often carries connotations of flexibility for some, precarity for others.
Self-employed service provider
- contractorHired construction professional
- self-employedWorking independently, not hired
- courierDelivery person or service
- driverVehicle operator
dasher · tasker · shopper · rider · 1099 · solopreneur · moonlighter · independent
App-summoned car service
- LyftRide-summoning service
- DoorDashFood delivery service
- InstacartGrocery delivery service
- TaskRabbitFreelance errand platform
Fiverr · Upwork · Airbnb · Deliveroo · crowdsourcing · algorithm · matching · on-demand
Distant or controller
- part-timeLimited work schedule
- on-demandAvailable upon request
- schedulePlan of timed events
- autonomyIndependent decision-making capacity
asynchronous · project-based · task-based · scalable · adaptable · variable · telecommute · elastic
Tendency toward unpredictable change
- insecurityUncertainty about oneself
- uninsuredLacking protective coverage
- exploitationSelfish use of others
- misclassificationErroneous categorical assignment
underemployment · disposable · burnout · vulnerability · informal · contingent · uncertain · unsustainable
Forming a labor collective
- benefitsGains or helpful effects
- regulationOfficial rules governing conduct
- misclassificationErroneous categorical assignment
- legislationOfficial enactment of statutes
freelancer
Self-employed service provider
- contractorHired construction professional
- self-employedWorking independently, not hired
- courierDelivery person or service
driver · dasher · tasker · shopper · rider · 1099 · solopreneur · moonlighter · independent · hustle
Uber
App-summoned car service
TaskRabbit · Fiverr · Upwork · Airbnb · Deliveroo · crowdsourcing · algorithm · matching · on-demand · marketplace
remote
Distant or controller
autonomy · asynchronous · project-based · task-based · scalable · adaptable · variable · telecommute · elastic
instability
Tendency toward unpredictable change
- insecurityUncertainty about oneself
- uninsuredLacking protective coverage
- exploitationSelfish use of others
misclassification · underemployment · disposable · burnout · vulnerability · informal · contingent · uncertain · unsustainable
unionization
Forming a labor collective
- benefitsGains or helpful effects
- regulationOfficial rules governing conduct
- misclassificationErroneous categorical assignment
- employmentjob, jobs, career, careers, interview
- workjob, 9 to 5, jobs, labor, employee
- workplacehours, cubicle, desk job, holiday party, desk
- careersdoctor, lawyer, teacher, engineer, nurse
- digital societysocial networks, internet, digital age, internet culture, digital natives
- workforceworkers, employee, employees, labor force, employer
gig economypermanent employment
Ongoing work with no termination date
full-time employment · lifetime employment · civil service · union jobs · salaried work
gig economyFordism
Assembly-line manufacturing philosophy
industrial economy · social democracy · corporatism · command economy · planned economy
economy, gig, economic, economical, economics, economize, gigs, economist, economists