Future of Work Digest

14th of May 2020

This newsletter highlights the latest news within the Gig Economy and Future of Work. Drawing on appjobs.com’s unique proprietary data and market access, the Appjobs Institute develops analyses and insights on the inner workings of the Gig Economy.

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Headlines:

• Tobias Porserud’s Top of mind
• The Institute’s Insights
• Union to take legal action against the British government
• Expected growth in gig economy due to pandemic
• California sues Uber and Lyft for violating AB5
• Future growth for businesses investing in AI
• 25% of the German workforce is working from home

Tobias Porserud’s Top of mind
Every second week the Director of Appjobs Institute will share some thoughts about the future of work.

• Due to technological advancements and innovations, the cost of communication has decreased dramatically during the past century; with some costs having dropped nearly to zero. The cost of making a telephone call, the cost of flying and the cost of storing data have all plummeted; communication is what leads to information. Having full access to information means it is becoming easier to find, communicate and to collaborate with each other and spurs on the gig economy.
• COVID-19 has magnified both the challenges and opportunities that come with the Future of Work. The gig economy will continue to grow as companies seek low-risk staffing options and workers seek economic opportunity in the gig economy with minimal effort. Therefore, the trajectory towards the emerging gig economy where more and more people are working as gig-workers, is likely to be catalysed by the COVID-19 pandemic. This, in turn, raises several questions on how we, as stakeholders from different sectors, can contribute to a world with suitable work and economic growth.
• It is important to figure out what innovation is needed, the type of policies that need to be implemented, the initiatives that need to be taken and most importantly, what you can do to shape the Future of Work.

The Institute’s Insights

• This week we have taken a closer look at the distribution of gender across gig platforms. The data is from appjobs.com and based on over 1.2 million members updated in May 2020.
• Certain norms are still active within the gig economy. Driving and Handyperson are both categories where almost 75% of the workforce are men, making them male-dominated professions. Women work in what have been gender-stereotypical jobs like babysitting and house sitting, where they make up for almost 70% of the workforce. The numbers confirm the normal corporate world (American gender breakdown by Industry).
• Categories with more equal division between genders are selling online, flex jobs, freelance and work from home. All categories have had a high increase in demand since the Covid-19 outbreak.

Union to take legal action against the British government

• The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) sent a statement to the Department for work and pension calling for further work safety measures in favor of gig workers and the implementation of EU regulations (Article 153) saying the health of workers should be protected. The union wants the duty of care to include those who are not employees or they will take legal action.

Read The Guardian article here

Expected growth in gig economy due to pandemic

• The pandemic has led many high-skilled individuals to seek contract work.
• The CEO of employment marketplace Expert360, Bridget Loudon argues that the business environment is changing in such a fast pace that firms face complex challenges such as the acceleration of their digitalization, the alteration of the way of distributing products, the change of work patterns, while they need to figure out the type of skills they will need in the future.
• The CEO of AirTasker, Tim Fung expects a rise in the supply of labour for contract work.

Read Australian Financial Review article here

California sues Uber and Lyft for violating AB5

• California has filed a suit against Uber and Lyft for allegedly violating the AB5 law, which was created to provide gig workers the benefits of employees.
• Uber has published a statement and expressed the firm’s willingness to contest this action to court.
• In case the firms lose the lawsuit, they will be forced to pay for over-time, healthcare and other benefits. The cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego have joined the legal action, which was filed in San Francisco.

Read Al Jazeera article here

Future growth for businesses investing in AI

• We believe that AI will continue to develop as people will look for ways to automate their daily tasks in the post-corona world. Examples are self-checkouts and ordering your barista-made coffee through an app.
• TecHR lists some of the areas that have become effective thanks to AI as talent acquisition and recruitment, collaboration between colleagues, project management, marketing, sales and customer service, productivity and efforts to tackle fraud and enhance security.

Read TecHR Series article here

25% of the German workforce is working from home

• Many of us have been working from home for the last couple of months. According to the German Labour Minister, the rate of the workforce working from home has increased from 12% to 25%.
• Whether or not life will get back to normal soon is debatable, at least for the near future. Certain measures and changes that were adopted due to the pandemic could be permanent. An example of this is working from home.

Read Forbes article here