Hey everyone! Here are the week’s latest news on the gig economy!
- The gig economy might be 5 million people strong
Some brains at the University of Hertfordshire did a survey and found that there might be 5 million people earning incomes using online platforms like Uber, TaskRabbit, and Upwork.
- MIT will hosting a conference on the on-demand economy in March
Looks like the gig economy is starting to draw people’s attention! Or at least, enough that the brains at MIT are going to be hosting a conference to talk about it next month. You might be asking, “What’s there to talk about?” Well, there are plenty to talk about, but this conference will be focused on four specific things: the future of work, the role of online platforms, how employers and workers are finding each other, and the “new social contract for labor”. I wonder how many starving grad students will be attending just for the free food?
- Sears loses money and its CEO blames Uber.
You can’t make this stuff up. The iconic retailer Sears lost 580 million dollars in the fourth quarter this year and the CEO of the company explains why by complaining about companies like Uber. He doesn’t think it’s fair that these new online gig-economy startups don’t have the same operating costs from collecting sales taxes, pay minimum wage, or provide health insurance for its drivers. He also doesn’t think it’s fair that people praise Uber despite it losing money—like 1 billion dollars in China—while companies like Sears are hammered for reporting losses. At first, it sounds ludicrous, but he kind of have a point.
- Uber joins the food delivery craze with UberEATS
Uber launched their UberEATS service in Melbourne, Australia recently. As if Caviar and Postmates didn’t have enough to worry about. Now they might eventually have to compete with Uber in the United States as well. In case you’re wondering, Caviar and Postmates don’t operate in Australia (at least not yet). But that doesn’t mean UberEATS won’t have competition in Melbourne because Australia’s got Deliveroo, Menulog, and Suppertime already duking it out to delivery restaurant food to people. Talk about a crowded market!
