Documents Martin, Alex 2 results

"This report authored by IES presents the findings from qualitative analysis of individuals working in the gig economy.

The research involved 150 telephone and face-to-face interviews, where individuals were asked about their motivations for undertaking work in the gig economy; the nature of this work; their experiences of using online platforms; and of finding and carrying out work.

The report's findings highlight the diversity of the gig economy, both in terms of the individuals undertaking this kind of work and the work that they are doing.

Experiences depend heavily on whether or not the individuals are carrying out the work as their main source of income. If this is the case, the report suggests that they are potentially vulnerable to fluctuations in working time and therefore pay levels, short notice of working schedules, and a degree of precariousness in terms of a lack of employment rights.

For workers who do not rely on this type of work for their main source of income, they are less vulnerable to such fluctuations in the amount of work available and can experience more freedom to accept or reject jobs.

The analysis also reflects on areas such as the skill level of individuals carrying out the work; whether these workers are planning for the future; and health and safety issues."

"The world of work is changing. The most common forms of employment – characterised by open-ended, full-time contracts – have steadily declined across Europe over the past 10 years. They have been replaced by historically atypical or non-standard employment relationships, including fixed-term contracts, part-time and on-call working, and temporary agency work. This shifting labour market context has numerous, interrelated causes that stem from changes in demography, technology, labour market regulation and most recently the 2008 financial crisis and global recession.

While standard employment relationships are still prevalent among the working population, concerns have been raised around the rights and income security of the rising numbers of atypical workers. In the UK, the core groups affected are those on zero-hours contracts (ZHCs), agency workers and the pseudo self-employed.

Issues affecting these workers include the presence of pay disparities compared to employees on standard employment contracts in the same company, and employment classifications leading to denial of basic entitlements such as the national minimum wage, union recognition and holiday pay (Berry-Lound et al, 2015; CIPD, 2013; Work and Pensions Committee, 2017). Further, under these types of employment relationship, individuals are not always guaranteed a minimum number of hours, leading to short or unstable working schedules (Rubery et al, 2016).

These issues are more acute for particular sections of the population. For instance, younger age groups make up a disproportionate share of this workforce. Individuals aged 16-24 represent a third of those working under ZHCs (ONS, 2018a). Agency and platform workers in the ‘gig' economy (many of whom are classified as self-employed) are also significantly over-represented among younger groups: in both cases, close to half are aged under-35 (Taylor, 2018; Lepanjuuri et al, 2018). Further, the income volatility of non-standard employment can put those without financial wealth and savings at risk of social and economic instability.

In this context, the youth homelessness charity Centrepoint commissioned the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) to explore the experiences of young people in non-standard forms of employment among groups they support."