The Gig is Not Up for a Growing Number of Canadian Employees

What is a gig economy?

Although the gig economy can be traced as far back as the 1970s, with employers hiring temporary and contract workers, this type of labour has experienced immense growth over the past few decades. Before cell phone technology evolved to what it is today, the original gig economy employer primarily operated in the Canadian Office Staffing and Temp Agency industry.

As new technologies are consistently developed to cater to evolving consumer demand, gig work has grown in popularity among all demographics in Canada. Although there are many different types of gig opportunities, a gig economy simply refers to an informal labour market that accounts for temporary, short-term and contract workers. As technology evolves, it also enables people to work in many different fields and pursue whatever gig-style opportunity they wish.

Different gig-style opportunities:

The gigs keep coming

As the gig economy gains popularity and more data is collected, new opportunities and misfortunes have arisen. Some benefits to working in a gig-style role include flexible working hours, no income cap and no job hunting if demand from one platform subsides. However, stresses involved in working a gig-style role include unsteady income stream, no basic employer benefits, such as paid time off and insurance, and a possibility of working long hours incase demand from a platform is slower than usual.

Many industries and businesses have also benefited from the growing gig economy. Particularly, businesses within the agricultural and food service sectors benefit from temporary and gig-style roles. The agricultural sector benefits from these types of employees since harvests occur seasonally and farmers require an influx of workers to help with a particular harvest. In addition, the food service sector has benefited greatly from an increase in food delivery platforms, which enables consumers to order food from any restaurant and have it delivered right to their door. This rise in demand for food delivery services has been a boon for both full-service restaurants and fast-food restaurants, which have been able to take advantage of these platforms and stay operational during the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. 

Gig economy in the time of coronavirus

As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the labour market has endured an increase in participants that have begun to work in a gig-style role. The growing number of gig workers is directly related to the rise in demand for delivery services, virtual lessons or other freelance work. Demand for these services escalated during the peak of the pandemic when restaurants were barred from serving customers on their property, stay-at-home orders were enforced across Canada and businesses were forced to cut as many costs as possible to stay afloat.

According to a 2021 article by Payments Canada, an organization that owns and operates Canada’s payment clearing and settlement infrastructure, more than 13.0% of Canadian adults are represented by gig workers. In addition, more than 37.0% of Canadian businesses now employ gig workers to help cut down on costs. Subsequently, according to the same study, more than three in 10 Canadians reported that they have used delivery services more frequently than before the pandemic.

Where do we go from here?

The gig economy is expected to continue growing over the five years to 2026. As technology advances, more applications may be developed and cause an increase in demand for gig-style workers. In addition, as demand from these services continuously expands, platforms will need to offer proper incentives so that gig workers can fulfill that growing demand.