Contraction in the country’s labor market amid widespread layoffs among major employers is leading to an increase in the number of people joining the ranks of the gig economy, according to a Nov. 17 report by Goldman Sachs.
Between 5 percent and 15 percent of Americans are supplementing their income through gig work, which includes temporary contract and freelance work, as well as platform-based gig jobs such as driving for Lyft or delivering for Uber Eats, Instacart, or DoorDash, the report said.
About 20 percent of current gig workers either lost a job, took a pay cut, or faced reduced hours over the past two years and turned to gig work, the analysis found. Almost half of all workers in the gig economy take on gig work to supplement their primary income, while 15 percent are gigging as their main source of income….