
Gig Workers Are Here to Stay. It’s Time to Give Them Benefits - pseudolus
https://hbr.org/2020/07/gig-workers-are-here-to-stay-its-time-to-give-them-benefits
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JMTQp8lwXL
The premise is 100% spot on. The bigger question is-- is there a market for
all the ridesharing and food delivery businesses at 2-3x the cost? These
services have seen subsidized rates for so long, any consumer remotely price
conscious will have sticker shock.

The article focuses on unemployment benefits, but that's scraping the surface.
Health care and paid family leave need to be included in benefits packages as
well.

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sacks2k
At the moment, there is no barrier to entry in to become a gig worker, besides
a car and the ability to drive.

If you force companies to give benefits to these Gig workers, they will not be
able to continue in this way (because it will be too expensive) and there will
now be a limit on how many drivers they will be able to hire (since they are
now essentially employees).

The end result will be less people hired as gig workers and more restrictions
on who can actually be a driver, which will leave out a large portion of
people driving right now without the ability to make any money at all.

With all of the restrictions that are being put into place on companies like
Uber and Lyft, we will eventually go back to what we had with cab companies
where the medallion holders have a monopoly on the entire industry and we see
no advances that actually improve the consumer experience.

I never understood why Gig workers should get any benefits. When deciding to
actually work, it's understood by all parties that you aren't an employee and
there really is no guarantee of income.

I've been contracting for a decade and pay for my own benefits. I weigh all
costs and benefits before signing a contract/doing any work and everyone
should educate themselves and do the same.

