New report calls for further research on gig worker classifications within the gig economy
June 30th, 2020, Toronto, ON: With technological change and shifting demographics, “gig” workers are a growing part of the economy. While independent contractors, online platform workers, contract firm workers, on-call workers and other temporary workers – all share common features and lack job security, the situations of a freelance computer programmer and an Uber driver are also very different.
It is clear that for some, gig work is a choice but for others excluded from conventional employment or unable to earn a living wage, it is a necessity. A new report Understanding the Nature and Experience of Gig Work In Canada (external link) by Ryerson’s Diversity Institute and Deloitte Canada as part of the Skills Next Project (external link) , a collaboration of the Public Policy Forum and the Diversity Institute at Ryerson’s Ted Rogers School of Management and supported by the Future Skills Centre, sheds light on the reality of gig work and lays bare the structural issues which have been exacerbated by COVID 19 as well as the questions we need to explore in order to better understand their role in the economy and implications for future skills.
“Gig work is not new and piece work has been with us since before the industrial revolution although technology has increased the opportunities for both additional flexibility and exploitation,” said Wendy Cukier, Founder and Academic Director, Diversity Institute and professor, and research lead of both the Future Skills Centre and Women’ Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub. “While some predict that the gig economy is the future of work, efforts to understand what lies ahead is difficult because of the differences in definitions, a rapidly changing environment and, of course, the impact of the pandemic. Additionally, we know that the experiences of gig workers are very different, based on context, and that women, newcomers, Indigenous people and other groups are over represented in some forms of gig work and under-represented in others.”
While some have suggested “gig” work is just reframing of older concepts of piece work, precarious work and temporary work, the report finds that more recent app- and web-based innovations such as matching platforms have changed modern gig work to the point that it requires a re-think from a policy standpoint. Modern technology has altered the way gig work is conducted so much that it has fundamentally changed the activity as well as the drivers and effects.
“The contingent labour market deserves a great deal more attention as a critical trend for the Future of Work,” said Stephen Harrington, Director, Workforce Strategies and Future of Work Advisory for Deloitte Canada. “Millions of Canadians are already working outside of what we consider the ‘traditional job’ and we haven’t really taken the time to understand the needs of this growing workforce. It is tempting to cast the whole contingent market in a negative light, but for some workers this market is an opportunity to work with high flexibility and autonomy, and through increasingly democratic digital forms of labour market attachment. We hope this research is a first step toward better understanding the challenges, and opportunities for new policy solutions.”
A gig worker is often seen as either a young millennial making enormous amounts of money flexing digital skills sets or as a low-skilled person making an irregular income while being exploited by faceless, absentee platform operators. To understand and build regulatory frameworks to guide gig work and protect workers, it is necessary to clarify differences across the diverse experiences of those workers.
Additionally, as pointed out in a May 2020 Statistics Canada study (external link) , gig workers are not identified in any of the main sources of Canada’s employment data. The study highlighted the research uncertainties and lack of up-to-date data that could allow for tracking the gig economy in real time.
As the country tries to strengthen its economy and stop job losses, understanding the gig worker is essential and by applying the insights and frameworks identified in Understanding the Nature and Experience of Gig Work in Canada, and supplementing them with additional primary research, we can build a policy agenda that addresses the nuances of gig work in Canada.
Other Key Takeaways
People who enter gig work in Canada tend to, on average, make less than the median of working families. This suggests that while some gig workers surely make much more than national averages or medians, the average gig worker may be turning to gig work opportunistically to augment or replace an inadequate income.
By presenting themselves as intermediaries rather than service providers, gig economy platform operators can shift nearly all of their business risk and cost onto others. This presents risks for workers, but also for consumers and taxpayers.
According to Statistics Canada, self-employed temporary workers now constitute more than 20 percent of the labour force, and are by far the fastest growing labour group in Canada. Data in both Canada and the United States suggest an ongoing upward trend in people who are employed through the gig economy.
For this report, gig work was defined as a category of work, or work arrangement, deemed to be non-standard or informal compared to a standard employment relationship. It is also characterized as having uncertain future business activities, being minor or casual in nature, lacking options for career or personal advancement, and lacking in formalized protection for the worker and employers.
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For more information, please contact:
Kathleen Powderley
Responsible Communications
416-803-5597
kathleen@responsiblecomm.ca
