(Sponsored Content) -- Going to work with Uber and other parts of the gig economy is easy - once you get around to it.
Polinario Paz, today a part-time Uber/Uber Eats driver in Tampa, told Florida Business Daily that he didn't jump on opportunity right away.
"Actually, not when I first heard about Uber," Paz said. "I actually heard about it three or four years ago, and I heard through my friend. They were telling me how they would drive and make extra income."
The right day eventually came along for Paz to visit the driver sign-up page on Uber's website and create his account.
"One day I just chose to
Paz has joined a company that saw its first service request more than a decade ago. According to the Uber website, the first Uber user called up the Uber app and requested a ride July 5, 2010 in San Francisco. The following year, Uber went iternational, with rides offered in Paris.
Things really heated up in a cool way in July 2012, when Uber began to offer ice cream delivery in seven U.S. cities. That service was the precursor to Uber Eats, the online food ordering and delivery platform now active worldwide.
Despite the ubiquitous nature of Uber and other parts of the on-demand economy, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has no official definition of the "gig economy," but describes a "gig" as "a single project or task for which a worker is hired, often through a digital marketplace, to work on demand." The BLS classifies gig workers as those doing contingent work or employed under "alternative employment arrangements."
Despite having no official definition, the gig economy has been key to many getting through the still on-going pandemic and the resulting economic downturn.
"Over the past 12 months, our customers have relied on Uber Eats to get everything from sandwiches to sunflowers to screwdrivers – and everything in between," Uber said in a recent news release on its website.
A recent report by The Hamilton Project found that as the post-Great Recession market continues to recover, on-demand gig work benefits workers and the economy by supporting job growth and personal income. The authors of the report pointed out that the gig economy offers flexibility, minimal training costs and low barriers to enter the workforce, allowing workers to create or supplement their incomes.
The report also found that customers benefit from services offered by gig workers and the low costs associated with them.
For Paz, working as an Uber driver has been a good fit for him.
"I guess it all just goes down to the flexibility that you can just open the app and just log in and you’re in," Paz said. "If you want time off or you just don't want to do it, you just get back out and get back off the app and you're pretty much out and you don't get any more requests. So, the flexibility for sure, time-wise."