Work built around short-term, freelance, or app-based jobs instead of traditional full-time employment.
The gig economy refers to work arranged through short-term contracts, freelance gigs, or app-based platforms, rideshare driving, food delivery, freelance design, rather than traditional full-time employment with a single employer. It offers flexibility that traditional jobs often don't, but gig workers typically don't get benefits like health insurance, paid leave, or employer retirement contributions, which has made how gig workers should be classified, employee or independent contractor, one of the more contested labor policy questions of the past decade.
Part of the Open Bell Glossary — plain-English explanations of the terms that come up on the show. Browse every term.