There is a feeling among several commentators that freelance working may just be a temporary shift. However, talent management professionals need to get over this mentality, as this trend is sure to stay. In the wake of the current pandemic, USA has seen about forty- eight million people register for unemployment insurance. This has even included Uber drivers, who are technically listed among essential workers. The stay- at- home trend means, that there is much lesser a demand for ride hailing. Gig workers have traditionally been kept out of employment benefits. Even Uber drivers have been listed as independent contractors, rather than as full- time employees. The Pandemic Unemployment Allowance will come as some relief to the same workers. This faulty system of listing the drivers as independent contractors enables the likes of Uber and Lyft to save millions of dollars’ worth of employment taxes. Mass unemployment is what experts are trying to figure out a solution for, not misclassification. Demand for sub- contracted or gig employees will only increase in this pandemic, as has been the trend for all such economic crises in the past.

Source:https://hbr.org/2020/07/gig-workers-are-here-to-stay-its-time-to-give-them-benefits?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter_daily&utm_campaign=dailyalert_not_activesubs&deliveryName=DM86926

Uploaded Date:04 August 2020