Gig economy in Britain doubles to 4.7m workers

New report says worker rights are declining
amid a surge in gig economy roles

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The report shows how “a boom in digital platforms, such as Uber
and Deliveroo, has sparked a revolution in the world of
work”, but that “workers’ rights have failed to keep pace with
the dismantling of the traditional nine-to-five working
week”, The Guardian says.

The report, which is based on a poll of 2,235 UK residents, aged
between 16 and 75, says the number of working-age adults who have
worked for an online platform at least once a week has risen from
4.7% (2.3m workers) three years ago, to 9.6%, (4.7m) today.

The BBC says that the report shows the “changing
world of work,” which the Huffington Post calls “divisive”.

The findings demonstrate that “working people are battling to
making ends meet”, said TUC chief Frances O’Grady.

She added: “Huge numbers are being forced to take on casual and
insecure platform work – often on top of other jobs.

“But as we’ve seen with Uber, too often these workers are denied
their rights and are treated like disposable labour.”

The Office for National Statistics had previously calculated the
size of the gig economy workforce in 2017 to be just 4.4% of the
population. However, the new study took a wider definition of
platform work, taking in paid tasks found via a website or an
app.

Young people were found to be most likely to be using apps to
find work that way, with nearly two-thirds of those working once a
week aged between 16 and 34.

Men are more likely than women to undertake such work, while
most people use more than one platform to earn a living.

In response to the report, Rachel Reeves, the Labour chair of
the Commons business committee, said: “The government has been far
to slow in tackling the fallout from the gig economy, which too
often leaves workers exploited and victim to low pay and insecure
work.”

David Blanchflower, a former member of the Bank of England’s
rate-setting monetary policy committee, and the author of a book on
the rise of unstable employment, said: “The gig economy isn’t
necessarily bad” but added that people have been “scared senseless”
over employment since the 2008 crash.