Xu Junzuo (Xinhua News Agency)
Photography enthusiast Xiao Yang uses his spare time to take photos and upload photos to commercial photo websites to increase revenue. The picture shows Xiao Yang shooting the sunrise in the Beidai river scenic area of Qinhuangdao City, Hebei Province. Courtesy of respondents
Chart source: 2019 China County Gig Economy Survey Report
On September 16, at 5 p.m., Master Zhang left work. Sitting in his car, he opened a ride-hailing software, and he changed from a corporate employee to an online ride-hailing driver. "Every day after work, going home early is also idle, it is better to drive an online car, but also to earn some oil money." Master Zhang told reporters.
At about 8 p.m., Master Zhang finished his work and went home. "I just think of it as a side hustle, and if I feel tired one day, I'll just go home after work." Flexible time, do not delay his job, Master Zhang likes to drive online car- and can increase some income every month.
Nowadays, more and more office workers like Master Zhang have begun to work "casual work", and even many people have begun to work full-time "casual work". Ride-hailing drivers, takeaway riders, substitute drivers... There are more and more flexible workers, and the "gig economy" is quietly emerging.
From "gig" to "gig economy"
Speaking of "odd jobs", Li, who is more than 60 years old, suddenly remembered his father. "My father had a formal job, but after work, he would always go to some factories and shops to do some physical work, earn some extra money, and supplement the family." There were 4 old Li brothers and sisters, and in that era, it was not easy for his father to support his family.
The experience of old Li's father should be understood by some elderly people, especially the "post-50s" and "post-60s". Even if they have not experienced it firsthand, many of their relatives and friends have had similar experiences.
At the end of the 1970s, with the reform and opening up, township enterprises in the southeast coastal area sprang up, but the technology and equipment were lacking.
As a result, the government and enterprises hire engineers from local retired skilled workers or factories and scientific research institutions in Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou and other cities to solve technical problems and improve product quality. These people are called "Sunday Engineers." "They usually work in their respective positions, and use the weekend to go to township enterprises to work part-time to help enterprises overcome difficulties." Jin Ge, a researcher at Peking University, said.
With the rapid development of the economy, "gig work" is becoming more and more common. "Although some enterprises or factories have great demand for employment, they cannot match in time due to the lack of developed information technology." Jin Ge said.
This mismatch between supply and demand was gradually broken by the birth and development of the Internet, and began to develop towards the "gig economy".
The "gig economy" refers to a short, flexible form of work that is different from the traditional "nine-to-five", using the Internet and mobile technology to quickly match supply and demand.
Yan Fei, associate professor of the Department of Sociology at the School of Social Sciences of Tsinghua University, pointed out that the most important feature of the "gig economy" is the dependence on Internet technology, and its work content has been greatly expanded, including manual labor such as takeaway and express delivery, as well as the work of remote business and delivery through online platforms, such as professional services for online legal and financial consulting, creative and multimedia services, online marketing support, software and technology development, writing and translation.
At the end of last year, the "Development Status, Social Impact and Policy Suggestions of the Gig Economy in the Internet Age" released by the Institute of Economics of the School of Social Sciences of Tsinghua University showed that the "gig economy" is increasingly becoming an important force in promoting the "new employment form" and a new growth point for promoting the high-quality development of the national economy. In 2019, the contribution of China's "gig economy" to the total GDP increase was 10.43%, and it is expected that by 2035, this proportion will increase to 13.26%, accounting for 6.82% of GDP.
The new format of the "gig economy" is sweeping the world. The data shows that in the United States and Europe, 10 to 15 percent of the working-age population earn a living by "gig work", and 10 to 15 percent use "gig" as a side hustle outside of their main business, with more than 160 million people actually participating.
"A hobby can also bring a lot of benefits"
The traditional "gig" adopts the "enterprise-employee" model, in which the company provides positions and individuals apply for positions. At the end of the day, the individual is still part of the business. The "gig economy" has changed this model, transforming it into a "platform-individual" model, where the platform provides employment needs and individuals make choices. This is an upgrade to the traditional model, which can not only be published on the platform by enterprises, but also by individuals.
Taking online car-hailing as an example, individuals need to use cars, publish car needs on the online ride-hailing platform, and e-hailing drivers grab orders to meet the customer's car needs. The customer pays the fare and can be regarded as remuneration. Couriers, takeaway riders, substitute drivers, etc. are all using this new model.
"The platform has become a medium for the docking of labor providers and demand sides in the 'gig economy', achieving rapid matching between supply and demand." Zhang Xiaheng, associate professor of the Business School of Northwest University of Political Science and Law, believes that this is an important reason why a large number of workers with supply capacity, working hours and skills prefer to work "casual work".
Xiao Yang is a programmer who loves photography and often takes pictures around with his camera in his spare time. When you take a good photo, Xiao Yang will upload it to some commercial photo websites. Every time the picture is downloaded, he can get a corresponding share, and he can earn hundreds of yuan per month by taking pictures.
Not only that, with the improvement of technology, Xiao Yang has some fame. Some commercial shooting activities also look for him as a full-time photographer, and the remuneration ranges from a few hundred yuan to thousands of yuan each time. "I really didn't expect that a hobby could also bring me a lot of income!" Xiao Yang said with a smile.
This is the charm of the "gig economy". Remuneration is settled in real time and strictly follows the principle of more work and more gain. For example, Xiao Yang, the more photos he takes are downloaded, the higher the income; the longer he participates in commercial shooting activities, the more the number of finished films, the higher the fee paid to him. "Many young people now earn more from 'gig work', which may be higher than their own jobs." Jin Ge said.
The relative freedom of time, the no longer fixed location, and the independent determination of content are also the characteristics of the "gig economy". Another feature has a distinct Internet characteristic - customer reviews. Those in the "gig economy" who have more quality reviews reap more opportunities and higher incomes.
Based on this, more and more young people are joining the "gig economy" industry. The fiery "slash youth" of previous years was the prelude to the "gig economy", and young people are no longer satisfied with only one kind of work and only one identity. Some young people with spare time will try more careers according to their abilities and interests.
Yan Fei said that as an emerging economic model, the "gig economy" breaks through the limitations of the traditional economic model in time and space, reduces the cost of market information transmission, provides employment opportunities for more workers, and provides strong support for the orderly operation of the economy and society.
Strengthen safeguards for practitioners
Xiao Wang is an illustrator who is a freelancer and adopts an order-based cooperation model. "If there is inspiration during this time, I will take more orders, feel more tired and less contact, mainly depending on the mood." Xiao Wang said.
Flexible working hours make Xiao Wang physically and mentally happy, but he also faces some problems, the biggest of which is social security.
With the further development of the "gig economy", many people may choose to give up their main careers and start working full-time "gigs". This phenomenon is becoming more and more common in industries such as ride-hailing, takeaway, and live broadcasting, and other freelancers will also have more full-time gig workers in the future. The pension insurance, medical insurance, etc. of these practitioners and how to protect the labor rights and interests need to be solved urgently.
According to data released by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the number of flexible employment employees in China has reached about 200 million, and a considerable number of them are "gig economy" practitioners. According to relevant agencies, by 2036, the number of "gig economy" workers will reach 400 million.
Since last year, takeaway riders have aroused great concern in society because of their high-intensity work and low level of protection. Many people began to reflect and called for strengthening the protection of labor rights and interests of practitioners in new formats, including the "gig economy".
To this end, in July this year, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and other 8 departments issued the "Guiding Opinions on Safeguarding the Labor Security Rights and Interests of Workers in New Employment Forms", which clearly "urges enterprises to participate in social insurance according to law." Enterprises should guide and support workers in new forms of employment who do not fully meet the conditions of establishing labor relations to participate in corresponding social insurance according to their own circumstances"; the State Administration for Market Regulation and other 7 departments issued the "Guiding Opinions on Implementing the Responsibility of Online Catering Platforms to Effectively Safeguard the Rights and Interests of Takeaway Delivery Workers", urging the platform to participate in social insurance for takeaway delivery workers who have established labor relations, and support other takeaway delivery workers to participate in social insurance.
"If these 'gig economy' practitioners are not included in the social security system, it will exacerbate the risks associated with an aging population." Jin Ge said that only by participating in social security can the worries of practitioners in new formats be effectively alleviated, and the overall consumption structure and population structure of society can be optimized.
The supervision of platforms and enterprises should also be implemented in place to prevent the occurrence of "policies at the top and countermeasures at the bottom". In this regard, Zhang Xiaheng suggested that relevant departments should increase the punishment of violations of laws and regulations through regular or irregular sampling and verification, improve the "gig economy" platform and the employment environment of enterprises, and effectively protect the legitimate rights and interests of practitioners.
In addition, many experts suggest that the construction of commercial insurance, especially commercial endowment insurance, should be accelerated. In May this year, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission issued a notice to carry out exclusive commercial pension insurance pilots, and from June 1, exclusive commercial pension insurance pilots will be carried out in Zhejiang and Chongqing. It is understood that the exclusive commercial endowment insurance will be more flexible in terms of payment and welfare, which is more in line with the actual situation of flexible employment personnel, which will provide more choices for practitioners of the "gig economy".
Source: People's Daily Overseas Edition