Season 3 Episode 3: The Gig Economy Post-Pandemic

Season 3 of "Drink Like a Lady" is focused on the growth opportunities in 2021. We are looking in the rearview mirror of 2020 and sharing what we learned from the pandemic.

Today’s episode explores the changes to the GIG Economy. Since everyone began working from home during the pandemic, the 'gig' economy becomes the new way that many Americans will participate in the workforce of the future. In this episode, we explore

What is a 'gig worker?'

• Someone who takes on small tasks
• Someone who takes on projects that they can complete on their own time
• Someone who participates in the marketplaces that have been created to match talent with needs.

What are the pros of being a gig worker?

1. It offers FLEXIBILITY to work from anywhere, which clients to take on, and how much you charge for your services
2. It allows you to TEST DRIVE a new career.
3. ITS SIDE INCOME that is steady and can support another goal
4. As an employer, it helps to get the job done without the expense of full-time help

What are the cons of being a gig worker?

1. No set salary. No health benefits.
2. Its demand dependent.

The takeaways

1. WORK-LIFE BALANCE has been disrupted For some workers, the flexibility of working gigs can actually disrupt the work-life balance, sleep patterns, and activities of daily life. Flexibility in a gig economy often means that workers have to make themselves available any time gigs come up, regardless of their other needs, and must always be on the hunt for the next gig. Competition for gigs has increased during the pandemic, too.
2. NO STEADY JOB WITH BENEFITS In effect, workers in a gig economy are more like entrepreneurs than traditional workers. While this may mean greater freedom of choice for the individual worker, it also means that the security of a steady job with regular pay, benefits—including a retirement account—and a daily routine that has characterized work for generations are rapidly becoming a thing of the past.
3. LONG TERM RELATIONSHIPS SUFFER. Because of the fluid nature of gig economy transactions, long-term relationships between workers, employers, clients, and vendors can erode. There goes the benefits of building long-term trust and familiarity with clients and employers. It could also discourage investment in relationships that would otherwise be profitable. Nobody has incentive to invest in a relationship since it only lasts until the next gig comes along. 

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Transcript

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Speaker 1 0:07

Hey, Hey, Hey, it is three 15 because we did our little stint on clubhouse first, but this is the drink, like a lady podcast, which is designed for women to get a seat at the bar and to get a seat in the boardroom. I'm going to move over here because I get a little more light and it looks a little more fresh. How are you today? I'm just waiting for Kathy to Churko Stewart , who is my partner in crime every single week at three o'clock on this podcast to join me. And this week we are talking about the gig economy where you're looking back in the rear view mirror of 2020, and thinking about all the growth opportunities that have sprouted up as a result of looking in that rear view mirror. And one of the big ones given that everybody is now working from home is the gig economy about 57 million workers in the United States right now participate in this particular part of the economy. And that is roughly a third of the entire working population. So while I'm waiting for Kathy to get on here, I'm going to start defining essentially what the gig economy is. This is for anybody that is engaged in small tasks, small errands, right? And so we're also looking for people that are looking for flexible projects, people that

Speaker 2 1:18

Are long-term , but maybe have a passion. And let's say organizing, and they're able to indulge themselves in being able to be in a complete working environment and be able to develop those skills. Kathy , I was just defining what a gig economy worker is. And then the final one, after we, after we've defined who they are, is that there's an entire ecosystem. There's an entire marketplace that is now connecting gig workers with the opportunities out there. And that includes Uber. That includes task rabbit. That includes Thumbtack. And that includes task rabbit, right? Kathy ? Yeah.

Speaker 3 1:50

This something that, you know, w everyone just in the past, it was all about the freelance, part-time it wasn't actually, I , you know, I'm going to say what this did was it really puts some shine and Polish on , um , this type of labor force. But the fact that we now have apps that people need to have these small tasks, even within large organizations done , um, whether it's technology, et cetera , has really accelerated the pace of this economy.

Speaker 2 2:14

And we'd be remiss if we didn't say that working from home and what the pandemic has really forced us to do has, has been the big rocket booster behind the gig economy because now more than ever, people are working several jobs, but they can because everything is happening from the same geographical place. And

Speaker 3 2:31

It really, what it does is actually takes down the boundaries of, of your talent. So for companies looking for certain talents are trying to fill something in based on, you know , uh, what what's on hand for them, even in the innovative part of what they're doing. This is an excellent way to get some really great talent.

Speaker 2 2:48

Um, Kathy , before we go on to talk about the pros and cons of the gig economy, I want to welcome lull at that . I want to welcome Anderson's ice cream and petite palette . Who's joining us from Tribeca. She said that she loves this topic, or I thought pros and cons of gig work. Let's talk about the pros. What are they?

Speaker 3 3:04

Those are, there's a lot of flexibility. There's a lot of flexibility on two ends, whether if you're the gig or I call it the getter , if you're the gig, you can do what you need to do when you have time, you know, and you find those opportunities. If you are looking for additional people to add in or accelerate what you're doing within the business, you can find that as well. So there's a lot of flexibility of bringing that in the second thing, you can try something new. How about, you know, you really good at one thing, but you want to talk about gardening or you want to go into something that is maybe more artistic or coaching actually, which has become a big thing this year, do that without giving up your full-time job as well. Um, that's the exploring a new passion it's actually getting out of your own way and trying something new.

Speaker 2 3:49

And, you know, for anybody that's thinking about becoming an entrepreneur, I'm about to interview the CEO and founder of MMO flora in a couple of weeks. And when she first jumped off the ledge and left her full-time job, something that gave her peace of mind was the fact that she had this gig on the side, it was tutoring, but at least it gave her the steady income while she was building her main hustle. And so that little side income can be a definite pro of gig work. Some of the cons, however, is, and I know this all too well, no benefits, no city salary. It's a forever hustle. You hustle for all the work that you get and you're demand dependent. You know, I think a lot of people in the last while have discovered if there's no demand for what it is that you do, then you're a little bit in a rough patch.

Speaker 3 4:36

And that's really important to understand that too. So lots of times , um, you may go in thinking someone has a demand and also you have to find the market. That's another thing that people don't understand. It's sort of like a brand or a product as well. You've got to find the market and where that market is right now. I will say that most of the gig workers and most of the demand are in cities. So that is something in terms of targeting , um, what you , uh, what you're looking to find.

Speaker 2 5:01

Great. All right . So the final thing here is that, you know, we've already defined who the gig economy workers are. They're part-time and work from home. They don't necessarily need to be hired based on their proximity. They're filling an economic need truly for the employer, because now that we're, we've got so many more small businesses cropping up, it doesn't necessarily mean that everybody's got the financial means to hire everyone full time. So we, you know, this is another big bonus of having a good worker, a 10 99 worker.

Speaker 3 5:28

You know, it's also very important is with all these apps that sort of , um, aggregate the people in terms of where the jobs are, where they are . They're not the employer. Like people say, oh, Uber is the employer. They're really not the employer. All they are is they aggregate them . They put people together and they make that particular service work for them.

Speaker 2 5:47

So just to bring it home here, I want to, again, for those of you that are just joining us, Juman is just joining us. A gesture is just joining us. We are looking back on the drink, like a lady podcast, day, episode five on the gig economy and had that morphed and transformed and change in 2020. And how is that going to really inform how 2021 is looking like? So we're now down to the criticisms of the gig economy. We know that work-life balance basically went out the door with our commute. Didn't it?

Speaker 3 6:14

It absolutely is. You know, when you sit at your desk and you're at home, and that's really where a lot of people have , uh , and you're on an , a gig doing a gig, what happens is you're looking for the next demand that happens. So almost your day continues and never stops. And I know that you are one of those individuals who you probably start. I know you start at five but eight or, or, or later. Um, and that's what it's about. In some cases you have to figure out what that work-life balance looks like and what you want to make for yourself on it.

Speaker 2 6:46

The way that I sort of delineate my day versus my night is that this coffee table goes back down to coffee table height, and I put my computer away. And that's how I know it's time to watch TV. All right, we're talking about the criticism of the gig economy. So the work-life balance has gone out the window. How about the fact that there's no steady salary and no steady benefits? Although there's a lot more providers, I feel like there are cropping up to sustain the gig workers with insurance and other things. Well,

Speaker 3 7:14

I think , I think, you know , one of the things is you have to understand if you're used to a steady income, then you've got to understand there's a stress that's involved with not having that steady income. And then that goes back to how do you plan? There you go, financial planners where , you know, freelancers, how did they figure that out? How do you optimize that? Maybe there are also these group benefits that you can work on, but understand in this, if that's the way, and that's your choice, you're doing it full time, but that's a whole added layer of stress that you're going to be dealing

Speaker 2 7:43

With. And then the final observation is that those long-term relationships, the chatter that happens around the water cooler is no more cause we're just not physically in each other's spaces. So how do we maintain our relationships with that employer? That may be our future employer again, given that we're now in a gig economy and make it less transactional?

Speaker 3 8:04

What so ? And I, and I, I mentioned this prior , um, in a prior conversation was that one of the CEOs talked about there is this factor that people aren't able to collaborate as much as they were in the past. And then there's this loneliness factor, you know, who do you talk to? You know , um, along the way, I know that there's some people, what they're doing is they actually plan in a conversation , um, into their day, whether it's through a zoom call or whether it's through FaceTime or something in that, going back to those individuals, they might be hanging out with at that , that water cooler. It's important to do that.

Speaker 2 8:38

And from the commercial real estate side, because I'm in front of a couple of my groups throughout the week and my membership and there's one group that's just dedicated to real estate commercial real estate is seeing the rise of communal workspaces. So if you're a member of something like a Noya house, you're rubbing shoulders with people that are artists and is why you signed up for that workspace. So that has been like another way to parse the loneliness factor. When you're a gig economy, you're a gig worker or a gigger, as you say, and kind of figure out how to continue to network, but not work in solitude.

Speaker 3 9:09

And what's really important. And I I've shared this. It's really important to have support that time when you, you know, you're feeling lonely or you're get caught up in something who can you call? Who can you talk to and build that up. That is the best . This is the best time for people to build up these virtual support systems.

Speaker 2 9:25

I have a planner and one of the questions that asks me when I sit down to plan the night before is what would make me feel more connected to people tomorrow. And I, I always get stumped. I don't know that I ever answered that question. Cause I feel like I'm on this modality all day long. Who am I not connected to? But it's, it's a good question to ask yourself if you're feeling that loneliness , um, Kathy , if people want to work with you, your business strategists, what's the best way to get in touch with you. They

Speaker 3 9:50

Can call me directly at six oh nine nine three three seven 600 or email me at Stuart , cathy@gmailstuartkathieatgmail.com .

Speaker 2 10:03

And I host a leadership platform and its origins. It was for south Asian women only, but now we've got a plethora of other executive women from all walks of life that are part of the membership. It's a real sort of collective, that's a force to reckon with. I'm really proud of what's happening here. You can always get in touch with me@infoatladydrinks.com. All right, Cathy , we'll see you next week as well. Take care.