RMIT University BUSM4559: Reflection on Gig Economy and Work

This presentation reviews the implications of the gig economy on labor and work, a topic gaining increasing attention in news and academic journals. The presentation focuses on understanding the gig economy, encompassing work facilitated through apps and crowdwork, and considers it as a significant shift in the nature of work. Key arguments include that the gig economy should not be treated as a separate economic silo. It examines the risks associated with these activities in the context of labor rights and fundamental principles defined by the International Labor Organization (ILO), evaluating the emergence of worker self-organization. The presentation further analyzes proposals such as creating an intermediate worker status and fully recognizing labor rights within this sector. The reading highlights the diminishing labor forces due to technology and the gig economy's impact on the labor market, potentially leading to job losses or wage reductions. The presentation also evaluates the reading, describing the gig economy's opposition to traditional employment models and its implications for worker rights, including limitations on collective bargaining and potential for cheaper labor. The analysis considers how the gig economy is changing the labor market program, and the need to take into account the way workers sustain their lives in this new economic landscape.

Name of paper reviewed
RMIT University Slide 1
• Adams, A.; Freedland M.; Prassl, J. 2015. The “Zero-Hours Contract: Regulating Casual Work or
Legitimising Precarity? ELLN, Working Paper No 5 (March)
• De Stefano, V., 2015. The rise of the'just-in-time workforce': On-demand work, crowd work and
labour protection in the'gig-economy
• Sundararajan, A., 2015. The ‘gig economy’is coming: What will it mean for work. The Guardian, 26,
p.2015.
• Scheiber, N., 2015. Growth in the ‘Gig Economy’Fuels Work Force Anxieties. The New York Times.

Primary purpose and focus of the article
• The main focus of the reading is the implications of labor and the gig
economy, it is a new term which is attracting the attention in the field of news
and also in magazines these days. The journal articles are also dealing with
this problem. The term gig economy means to understand the two forms of
work which incorporates the work via the process of apps and crowdwork
RMIT University Slide 2

Key arguments raised in the reading
• It is to be understand that the gig economy is not be treated as a separate
economy’s silo
• The article talks about the risks which are linked to these kinds of activities in the
context of Rights at work and Fundamental principles which are defined by
International Labor Organization (De Stephano 2015).
• The relevant trends are also being evaluated which is the emergence of the
worker’s forms of self organization
• ). Next, the proposals such as the creation of the category based on intermediate
status between the independent contractor and employment in order to categorize
the workers under the umbrella of the gig economy and other proposals of
tentative nature is also being put forward such as giving full recognition of the
activities in this particular sector such as work fundamental labor rights and the
extension of the important rights of the labor to all the working people by not taking
into consideration their status of employment and the acknowledgement of the
roles of the social workers while trying to avoid the temptations of the
deregulations which are based on the haste( Sundararajan 2015).
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Relevance of reading to understanding the
changing nature of work and/or labour markets
With the changing nature of the work, the labour forces are getting diminished
due to the emergence of the modern technology via apps and this in turn
reducing the workforces of the labour. However, this in turn affecting the labour
market where the people are loosing their jobs or buying the labour at the
cheaper rate. In this age, the employment based on bureaucracy where the
employees exchange the labour and also loyalty for the security. (De Stephano
2015).The paper deals with the gig economy and also focussed on how the
people in thut their way to sustain e post industrial based economy survive a
life. With this gig economy, the markets of the labour is becoming cheaper and
this needs to be taken into consideration about their way to sustain their life.
The workers are taken on the basis of the short term services as the industries
are solely depending with time on the technological facilities and the payment
system (Schieber 2015).
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Evaluation of the reading
The reading gives a vivid description of the work of the gig economy
where the economy is opposed to take the permanent job by going
against the traditional mode of work. The argument is raised here is
that the people are being limited in their job sphere and no proper
salary benefit given to the employees (Adams et al. 2015
).The gig economy is pushing the labour market in a more cheaper
world and also the employed people are also being excluded from
the right to work . This is resulting to the limitation of their freedom in
terms of collective bargaining and buying labour cheap rate. The
same argument has been supported by Freedland and Adams in
their theory. The gig economy needs to taken into account seriously
as it is bringing change in the labour market program (De Stephano
2015).
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