Lawmakers and the NLRB continue to wrestle with gig worker classification (and defining what that means for companies), but the number of people flocking to gig work is not slowing down. In fact, there’s quite the opposite effect, according to the second annual Branch x Marqeta Gig Payments Report, which reveals how current inflation rates are encouraging existing gig workers to amp up their work hours.
In addition, the so-called “Great Resignation” contributed to boosting the overall number of U.S. gig workers to 23.9 million (which is almost double the rate of 2017) as workers increasingly shun full-time work in favor of more flexibility. Gig economy businesses could, of course, benefit from the larger pool of talent that is only expected to grow larger over the next five years.
