According to the Pew Research Center, 16% of American adults and 30% of younger workers say they’ve earned money through online gig platforms. Companies like Uber and TaskRabbit often offer workers supplemental income and a flexible schedule, but usually without the protections and benefits found in traditional work. Now, local governments are also offering nonstandard work opportunities like gig work, but with better terms.
Xavier de Souza Briggs, a senior fellow at Brookings Metro, co-wrote an article about the public sector creating gig work platforms. He wrote: “We are seeing an important, two-sided government innovation: the modernization of public work-finding platforms for underserved workers linked to the broader modernization of public service delivery.” Long Beach, California, is one of the first cities in the country to employ gig workers for flexible employment at schools and events and in community health and even child care.
Briggs spoke to “Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal about the state of the gig economy and what this program means for workers.
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