The trend of gig economy jobs is soaring especially with the Gen-Z generation. Gig economy jobs are essentially temporary freelancing jobs where the worker doesn’t actually belong to a corporation and is employed as an individual entity jumping from role to role. A shocking 46 percent of Gen-Z workers are freelancers. Of that 46 percent, 73 percent of Gen-Z workers are freelancers by choice, and the percentage of freelance workers is only expected to grow after more of Gen-Z enters the workforce. The appeal of the typical 9 to 5 job has been disappearing for years now. Workers want more enjoyment, flexibility, and control over their work and work schedules. This further stems from the general sentiment of Gen-Z that large corporations don’t really care about their employees or do enough to maintain their wellbeing, so there is no reason to work for a company for a long time.
In fact, even Gen Zers that start off in large corporations don’t plan on staying there for long. About 27 percent of Gen Zers don’t plan on staying at their first full time for more than 2 years, and I think I am a part of that percentage. This is such a stark shift from generations in the past where the goal would be to land a strong first full-time job and then spend years working your way up at the same company trying to make a career for yourself. This is being reflected in the startup world as well. A lot of new up and coming companies are focused on targeting Gen-Z gig economy markets and helping gig economy workers find new jobs quickly. A lot of existing industries are making this shift too since the demand for such roles is steeply increasing.
Author: Akshay Ramen
