ENTREPRENEURS
Gig-a growth A local landscaping intermediary is a microcosm of the booming gig economy BY KARA HARTNETT
T
he uncertainty of 2020 gave new meaning to platformenabled work for the labor market, providing income security and scheduling flexibility to a growing field of gig workers tossed about by economic volatility of the COVID-19 pandemic and a redefined workplace culture. In an online survey conducted last November by daVinci Payments, nearly 35 percent of respon-
dents identified as gig workers — defined as temporary or part-time work contracted by independent workers for short-term engagements. Of those people, 59 percent said they work, most often using mobile apps, to supplement their incomes while 42 percent said they enjoy the more flexible work schedule and 20 percent said they have a better work-life balance. The gig economy, daVinci says, grew by a third in 2020 to include 93 million people who earned a
combined $1.6 trillion from that work. As unemployment spiked last spring to, by some estimates, its highest level since The Great Depression, 14 percent of respondents said they turned to part-time business activities because they could not find a full-time job. In Tennessee, 400,000 jobs were lost in the spring of 2020, and the economy has only added 287,400 jobs back to payrolls since then, according to the Tennessee Secretary of State. Many of the new positions are tied to tech in relatively new ways, whether that’s for helping meet skyrocketing demand for food and grocery deliveries, dog sitting, ridesharing services or other e-commerce services.
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