Every year, they contribute around £20 billion to the UK economy, according to the Centre for Research and Self-Employment. Carrying out vital work in daily society, these independent contractors do everything from delivery drivers and couriers to graphic designers and even university lecturers.
They account for a large part of Britain’s workforce too. In March 2023, one-fifth (22.1%) of the UK workforce or 7.25 million people worked at least once a week in the gig economy, research by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has found. That is a rise of 50 percent from 2021, based on research by the University of Hertfordshire, with the total set to peak at 14.86m regular workers by 2026.
Despite all this, gig workers are often lowly paid and do not receive the same rights and benefits as their employed counterparts. They also tend to be on zero-hour or short-term contracts, getting paid for tasks completed rather than the time they have worked.
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