Hiring for one day: Gig economy hits retail
AARON Stallings, who used to work as a bill collector for Capital One, says he’s no longer interested in having a full-time job.
Instead, for the past year, he has cobbled together work - 50, sometimes 60 hours a week - by parachuting into restaurants in Richmond, Virginia, that have last-minute openings to prep food, bus tables and bottle beer. There are obvious downsides, like the lack of health insurance and the trouble of not having an employer withhold money for taxes. But he says the arrangement reflects a new reality in which flexibility trumps stability. Plus, he says, he is often treated better than full-time employees.
“It’s definitely stressful to show up and have your first day almost every time,” Stallings, 25, said, “but at least I don’t feel miserable and stuck on the job.”
The gig economy is clocking in to retailers and restaurants.
The unemployment rate is at a 17-year low, but stagnant wages, chronic under- employment and growing inequality are leading more Americans to take on socalled side hustles. Some want to supplement their incomes. Others are just trying to eke out a living. Nearly one in four Americans now earn money from the digital “platform economy,” according to the Pew Research Center. Most of that work is for domestic tasks, such as housecleaning and repairs, or driving for companies such as Uber.
By moving into shops and cafes, on- demand work stands to reshape a broader slice of the US economy. There are implications for low-wage workers, too, as a new class of employers fills its labor pool with on- call temp workers. Retail and hospitality - which accounts for 20 per cent of US positions, according to the Bureau of Labour Statistics - is the on-ramp for many employees to better jobs. But the sector is also pinched by rising minimum wages and health- care costs, and employers are seeking more flexible work arrangements that respond to the ebbs and flows of their businesses.
But labor experts say companies such as Snag Work could set a dangerous precedent. Employers are already wary of hiring full-time employees because of overtime and healthcare costs, they say, and having a pool of potential gig workers at the ready could make matters worse for those seeking the stability, benefits and protections that come with full-time work.
“We’re seeing only one trend here, which is that the gig economy is big and getting bigger,” said Diane Mulcahy, a lecturer at Babson College and author of “The Gig Economy.” “Companies will do just about anything to avoid hiring fulltime employees. Add to that the fact that there is no job security anymore, and workers are increasingly aware that they need to work differently if they want to create any sort of stability for themselves.”
Snag Work and other new platforms are the go-betweens, allowing users to pick up open shifts from retailers, restaurants and hotels that have gaps in their schedules. Wonolo, which bills itself as 40 per cent cheaper than traditional temporary staffing companies, counts Coca- Cola, McDonald’s and Papa John’s Pizza among its clients. Other start-ups include AllWork and Coople.
Snag Work, which recently expanded to Washington, D.C., says the arrangements are mutually beneficial for cash- strapped workers and understaffed businesses.
“Workers now have lots of options to pick up shifts - Instacart, TaskRabbit,
If a restaurant has dishwashers, cooks, busboys, servers - those people are employees, they have a fair number of protections under employment law, including a minimum wage, overtime pay and family medical leave. Catherine Fisk, a law professor at the University of California at Berkeley
Postmates, Lyft,” said Peter Harrison, chief executive of Snag, the parent company of Snag Work, which says it has 2.1 million active users. “But for small businesses, there are not ways for them to participate in this revolution. They’re suffering for it because they’re losing workers to these other platforms.”
That’s where Snag Work comes in, he says. This is how it works: Interested workers sign up online and are vetted by Snag Work via Skype interviews and background checks. They can search for open shifts - which typically pay US$ 10 ( RM38) to US$ 15 an hour - on the company’s app and sign up for the ones they’re interested in. ( The median hourly pay for retail work in the United States is US$ 13.20, according to the BLS.) They clock in and clock out and are paid through Snag Work’s online platform.
A spokeswoman for Snag Work said the company provides workers’ compensation coverage to all workers.
Labour economists and law professors say the system raises concerns for some of the country’s most vulnerable workers.
“If a restaurant has dishwashers, cooks, busboys, servers - those people are employees, they have a fair number of protections under employment law, including a minimum wage, overtime pay and family medical leave,” said Catherine Fisk, a law professor at the University of California at Berkeley. “What is at risk for all of these Snag workers is that they are potentially entitled to none of that if they are treated as independent contractors.” — WPBloomberg