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Gig economies seem to me to be the sign of BAD economies. The fact that we're still transitioning into a gig economy despite the lowest unemployment in two decades is NOT a good sign.
Technically, we could have "record unemployment" (which I know is a farce as it doesn't consider people as "unemployed" who have been out of a job for a certain amount of time) but have most jobs be staffing and temp work with no benefits or insurance and low pay and still the "record unemployment" claim would be true under the criteria.
Why, you ask? Because employers have figured out how much they can get away with. The more giggers they have, vs. regular employees, the fewer bennies they have to provide, so that much more profit goes to the CEO's.
If the economy were doing so well, people over 50 wouldn't be getting fired, and having an impossible time getting another job in their profession, or anywhere, besides Wal-Mart and other geezer jobs.
This can be a good thing for those willing and able to contribute. In an effort to raise profits companies no longer want to be obligated to the employee past trading a salary for productive work for only as long as it is needed. It is a meritocracy for the worker, rather than a traditional long term marriage between employer and employee. The worker is paid for what they bring to the table, rather than who they know, their political skills, etc. The employer has the right to terminate the employee at will if they are not producing or are no longer needed.
An analogy is the way movies are made. In the past Hollywood had a studio system where actors were put under long term contracts and were essentially the property of the studio. For many decades now actors and technicians get together for the duration of a movie. In essence everyone is an independent contractor rather than an employee.
A year after I retired after having spent the previous 35 years working for just two companies, I decided to go back to work. It was a different world, but one that suited me.
Applying for jobs was online. I got an offer from an agency that offered me work as an independent contractor. I wound up working 6 months for a major corporation as an independent contractor. No benefits, no rights, but a decent salary. The agency that hired me was a subcontractor for a larger agency (Kelly Services) that contracted with the corporation, so the corporation was two levels removed from me and could fire me at will.
The agency provided a full benefits package if desired at a good price, including health care and life insurance at a good group rate if desired, but I didn't need it. It was one of the best jobs and most demanding that I ever had. But being over 60, I saw no age prejudice at all. They were happy to have me and I was happy to be there. During my 6 months there younger people were hired the same way and let go within a couple of weeks for not performing. When I left at the end of my 6 month contract to accept another 18 month contract from the company I had retired from, they were sorry to see me leave. Those additional two years working as a contractor gave me a nice cushion to retire on.
...if we weren't stuck competing with insourcing of illegals and H1Bs and also with guest workers from Mexico...
Quote:
Originally Posted by BigDGeek
We need to start with deporting most of the H1Bs/L1s/OPTs and all the illegals.
You'll see the job market brighten up almost instantly.
Quote:
Originally Posted by charlygal
You looking to pick fruit or process seafood?
Yeah. I love this argument about illegals and guest workers, neither of which would have a toehold here if good white 'Murricans could be found - at pretty much any price - to do those jobs.
So we toss all "illegals" and guest workers, and send the H1B tech workers with multiple degrees back to India... and that improves the job market for Real Americans... how? Seems mostly like it would cut into their time listening to trash-talk radio and Foxy Friends.
This can be a good thing for those willing and able to contribute. In an effort to raise profits companies no longer want to be obligated to the employee past trading a salary for productive work for only as long as it is needed. It is a meritocracy for the worker, rather than a traditional long term marriage between employer and employee. The worker is paid for what they bring to the table, rather than who they know, their political skills, etc. The employer has the right to terminate the employee at will if they are not producing or are no longer needed.
An analogy is the way movies are made. In the past Hollywood had a studio system where actors were put under long term contracts and were essentially the property of the studio. For many decades now actors and technicians get together for the duration of a movie. In essence everyone is an independent contractor rather than an employee.
A year after I retired after having spent the previous 35 years working for just two companies, I decided to go back to work. It was a different world, but one that suited me.
Applying for jobs was online. I got an offer from an agency that offered me work as an independent contractor. I wound up working 6 months for a major corporation as an independent contractor. No benefits, no rights, but a decent salary. The agency that hired me was a subcontractor for a larger agency (Kelly Services) that contracted with the corporation, so the corporation was two levels removed from me and could fire me at will.
The agency provided a full benefits package if desired at a good price, including health care and life insurance at a good group rate if desired, but I didn't need it. It was one of the best jobs and most demanding that I ever had. But being over 60, I saw no age prejudice at all. They were happy to have me and I was happy to be there. During my 6 months there younger people were hired the same way and let go within a couple of weeks for not performing. When I left at the end of my 6 month contract to accept another 18 month contract from the company I had retired from, they were sorry to see me leave. Those additional two years working as a contractor gave me a nice cushion to retire on.
Your scenario about the movies WOULD be a good gig economy, but the problem is, unlike Hollywood, where they are well paid and compensated, the payoff for the rest of us is plummeting, not improving. In short, it's not turning out like Hollywood. I would LIKE it to end up that way but we'd have to change course.
I wonder how many of those arguing for the boons of the gig economy realize it exactly parallels the post-Civil War era into the early 1900s... when factories, building sites and the like were staffed by people who only had a job day-to-day, sometimes not every day if they were late getting to the factory gate, only hired when there was work for them, and received no benefit beyond their pay packet? Yeah, that was a fantastic time to be a worker, wasn't it? FreeDOM! and none of that being bound to a corporate slot.
I wonder how many of those arguing for the boons of the gig economy realize it exactly parallels the post-Civil War era into the early 1900s... when factories, building sites and the like were staffed by people who only had a job day-to-day, sometimes not every day if they were late getting to the factory gate, only hired when there was work for them, and received no benefit beyond their pay packet? Yeah, that was a fantastic time to be a worker, wasn't it? FreeDOM! and none of that being bound to a corporate slot.
You missed the big difference... Today people choose to work day to day in a gig, they are not forced, they have other options but they don't like them
You missed the big difference... Today people choose to work day to day in a gig, they are not forced, they have other options but they don't like them
Ah, is that it.
Yep, your average 20-something with no particular job skills can do pickup work any time he/she wants, and kick back when they want, and avoid all that 9-to-5 for eeevul corporations.
Let us know how it works out down the road. Didn't do so well for the 1890s workers who got sick, or hurt, or married, or maybe wanted to stop humping bags of grain 60 hours a week. But it's a whole new era, right?
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