In the News

Want to be your own boss?

If so, you’re in good company. Contingent workers — gig workers (i.e., temporary employees), freelancers (e.g., Uber drivers), and independent contractors (e.g., marketing consultants) — now comprise over a third of America’s labor force. According to Intuit CEO Brad Smith, 43 percent of the workforce will be contingent by 2020.

In a nod to the gig economy’s growth, U.S. Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) and U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-WA) have introduced resolutions into their respective Houses of Congress, both titled “Portable Benefits for Independent Workers Pilot Program Act.” These bills propose allotting $20 million to study contingent worker benefit options.

Warner and DelBene’s proposal may sound radical, but almost all U.S. job growth since 2005 has been in alternative work arrangements. Somehow, we as a society need to address the dissatisfaction that these workers are feeling. More than two-thirds of people who’ve worked as independent contractors say they wouldn’t want to do so again.
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