gig economy

English

Etymology

From gig (“temporary job”).

Noun

gig economy (plural gig economies)

1. (economics) That part of the economy consisting of people who work in a transient, contract or self-employed capacity, as opposed to being permanent employees of a business.
   • 2018 June 17, Robert J. Samuelson, “Is the gig economy a myth?”, in The Washington Post‎^[1]:

     But suddenly, the debate has imploded; the gig economy may be a myth. A new survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that, in 2017, the share of workers in “alternative employment arrangements” (gig jobs and other) was 10.1 percent of total employment, almost exactly what it was in 2005 (10.7 percent) and 1995 (9.9 percent).

   • 2019 December 13, David Brooks, “The Politics of Exhaustion”, in The New York Times‎^[2], →ISSN:

     Second, there is the precariat. These are the young and educated voters caught in the gig economy, who see no career security ahead.

   • 2024 September 11, Kate Conger, Noam Scheiber, “California Bill Makes App-Based Companies Treat Workers as Employees”, in The New York Times‎^[3]:

     California legislators approved a landmark bill on Tuesday that requires companies like Uber and Lyft to treat contract workers as employees, a move that could reshape the gig economy and that adds fuel to a yearslong debate over whether the nature of work has become too insecure.

Translations

economy

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 零工經濟／零工经济 (línggōng jīngjì)

• Finnish: pätkätyötalous
• French: ^{(please verify)} économie des « petits boulots », économie des petits boulots f, économie à la tâche (fr) f
• Georgian: გიგ-ეკონომიკა (gig-eḳonomiḳa) (mainstream but colloquial)
• Portuguese: please add this translation if you can

See also

• precariat