(Sponsored Content) -- Recent surveys are pointing to the increased possibility of corporations relying on gig workers and, in turn, a significant number of people engaging in gig work.

Gig workers are those who participate in alternative work arrangements, “Gallup’s Perspective on The Gig Economy and Alternative Work Arrangements (2018)” said. Gig workers can include independent contractors, on-call workers, temporary workers, online platform workers and contract firm workers.

“Using this broad definition, Gallup estimates that 29% of all workers in the U.S. have an alternative work arrangement as their primary job. This includes a quarter of all full-time workers (24%) and half of all part-time workers (49%),” “Gallup’s Perspective” said. “Including multiple job holders, 36% have a gig work arrangement in some capacity.”

The COVID-19 pandemic may accelerate employers’ increased demand for gig workers, a McKinsey & Company survey of 800 executives worldwide in June 2020 found.

“When hiring for on-site roles, executives expect to rely much more on contractors and temporary workers,” McKinsey & Company found. “Two years from now, about 70% of the executives in our survey expect to use more temporary workers and contractors onsite at their companies than they did before the crisis.”

Flexibility in work arrangements is a benefit for some gig workers like Dwayne Bell, a full-time driver for Uber from Chicago. Uber is the ridesharing app connecting passengers to drivers.

“I like the flexibility because … life happens,” Bell said. “I don't have to be penalized for taking time off other than the loss of earnings. But to me, that’s something that, you know, I can accommodate.”

As of December 2018, the latest data available, Uber had 3.9 million drivers with 91 million monthly active platform consumers, Uber’s website said.