Background

The term “gig work” is broad and covers a wide variety of workers, including temporary staff on a short-term contract, on-call workers (such as substitute teachers), freelancers doing highly compensated work in consulting or information technology, and rideshare drivers and delivery workers who often earn very low pay. In this paper, I use "gig worker" to refer to people finding work through app-based platforms like Uber, Lyft, and Upwork, and broadly refer to app-based gig workers and freelancers as gig workers.

Gig workers are typically paid to complete specific, time-limited projects, and are often classified as independent contractors rather than as employees—“employee” and “independent contractor” being the two main legal categories of work in the United States. Workers classified as employees enjoy a host of benefits, rights, and protections, such as minimum wage and overtime laws. Workers classified as independent contractors, on the other hand, perform work for clients, such as companies, but are not employees of those clients. As such, they are not eligible for benefits, rights, and protections that are part of a typical employment relationship, like minimum wage and overtime. Instead, independent contractors are just that: independent. They are supposed to be able to set their own payment rates, decide which projects to take on, and decide the best way to execute those projects.

Yet as gig workers, organizers, and labor advocates know all too well, rideshare drivers, delivery workers, cleaners, handymen, and other lower-paid gig workers often do not actually enjoy the level of autonomy that should come with independent contractor status—autonomy that freelancers do enjoy. While Tyree can work at his own pace and take breaks when he wants to—just like a freelancer—the Uber Eats app does not allow him to set his own payment rates the way a freelancer on Upwork can. This is a key reason behind arguments and court rulings that these lower-paid gig workers have been misclassified and are in reality employees.¹

Existing data suggest gig workers comprise a significant and growing share of our labor force. High-quality data on the gig workforce is lacking, but according to the Gig Economy Data Hub, surveys of the national workforce from entities like MBO Partners, the Freelancers’ Union, and McKinsey Global Institute indicate that between 25 and 35 percent of workers engage in non-standard or gig work on a supplementary or primary basis.² Freelancing platform Upwork commissioned a survey in 2020 of U.S. workers, finding that 59 million Americans had performed freelance work in the past year, or 36 percent of the workforce.³

Survey data suggest Tyree is not alone in having ambitions for his career beyond gig work. A 2018 Gallup survey found that 60 percent of online platform workers surveyed were doing their preferred type of work, while 40 percent would prefer to do another type of work.⁴ Two-thirds of gig workers viewed gig work as their long-term career, compared to 80 percent of traditional workers who felt that way.⁵ Gig workers were also more likely to be actively looking for another or additional job.⁶ More recently, a 2021 McKinsey-Ipsos survey found that 62 percent of contract, freelance, and temporary workers said that they would prefer to be permanent employees, particularly respondents who were first-generation immigrants, Latinx, Asian American, and Black.⁷ In Upwork’s 2020 survey, 47 percent of freelancers viewed freelancing as a long-term career choice, while 53 percent viewed it as a temporary way of making money, particularly during economic downturns or in the event of a job loss. In short, while many gig workers express satisfaction with their work, a significant share would prefer to be in a more traditional occupation.

There clearly exists a wide variety of career aspirations and preferences among gig workers. Some gig workers—particularly freelancers who have greater power in the labor market—may prefer to remain in gig work long-term, and may benefit from professional development, continuing education, and credentialing opportunities that would allow them to keep their skills sharp and succeed in gig work. Other gig workers may want to transition to traditional employment, and may benefit from access to career services, educational pathways, credentialing opportunities, and other supports needed to make a career transition.

Our education and public workforce systems are designed to help workers pursue their aspirations. Yet gig workers may be at a particular disadvantage in reaching their long-term career goals because of their classification as independent contractors. In traditional work arrangements, some employers provide training for new workers and continue investing in the professional development of their employees with the goal of making them more productive. This on-the-job training can even help workers land their next job. For gig workers, the lack of an employment relationship means there is no employer with a vested interest in ensuring workers have and maintain the skills needed to be successful on the job. That is, there is no employer interested in providing professional development, on-the-job training, or benefits like tuition reimbursement that can attract and retain employees. Since gig workers cannot rely on an employer for professional development opportunities the same way traditional workers can, policymakers need to ensure the public workforce development system can step in and serve this population.

Federal programs to help unemployed and disadvantaged workers transition into stable employment date back to the Kennedy administration and the passage of the Manpower Development and Training Act (MDTA) of 1962. Since that time, the country’s federally funded public workforce system has evolved, with the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) replacing the MDTA in 1973, followed by the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) in 1982, the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, and the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) of 2014. With each new law, policymakers sought to update the country’s workforce development system to keep up with changes in the economy and meet the needs of jobseekers and local employers. The current system is highly decentralized, with local American Job Centers providing a wide array of job search assistance, career services, and job training opportunities to adults and young people in search of employment.

The workforce development system can play a key role in helping gig workers pursue their career and education goals. Specifically, depending on their interests and goals, these workers may need access to the following:

• Career counseling to identify goals and create a plan to achieve them, such as earning postsecondary credentials or transitioning to traditional employment in another industry.
• Job search assistance, training, or postsecondary education to achieve education and career goals.
• Assistance identifying and navigating credentialing opportunities.
• Assistance identifying and securing financial resources and other supports needed to pursue career and education goals.
• Skill-building, networking, and other professional development opportunities needed to be successful in gig work.

Yet research has shown that the workforce development system has struggled to serve gig workers. In 2017, the GAO interviewed officials from selected state and local workforce boards and identified two major challenges in serving gig workers: a lack of information on promising practices related to gig workers and difficulties in reporting their employment-related outcomes.

In the next section, I identify cross-cutting themes that emerged from structured interviews with workforce development leaders and professionals around the country. Each interview yielded valuable insights and identified barriers that prevent gig workers from taking full advantage of the workforce development system to achieve their unique career goals.