Sponsored Content -- Gig work is nothing new, as more Americans than ever are participating in independent work that gig employers offer.
Recent surveys show that gig workers rate their labor for a ride-hailing companies and other such places above their experiences with traditional jobs. They list an array of reasons, citing flexibility, income, ease of job and more time for family being at the top of the list.
Morsi Mansour, a part-time Uber driver, said that the ability to work for a company that can accommodate his schedule is why he enjoys his side hustle.
"Yeah, yeah. It helps me when I get tired or sick, I can stop working when I am busy with something else, I can just do, you know, stop working when I, uh, I need to do something else, I can just do it," Mansour said. "I can just come off the application and do what I want to do, and then I can open it again and start working again. So that looks pretty good. It's a good thing about Uber."
A 2018 Gallup poll found that 36% of American workers were involved in the gig economy, with 64% of them stating that they enjoyed their alternate work agreement.
"Independent gig workers (such as online platform workers and independent contractors) experience high levels of work-life balance, flexibility, autonomy, meaningful feedback and creative freedom. In fact, they score much higher on all these factors compared with traditional workers and other types of gig workers," the 2018 Gallup poll said.
More recently, a survey of 6,000 U.S. workers by "Freelancing in America: 2019" found that 79% of full-time and 76% of part-time freelance workers joined the flexible workforce because they wanted to have a flexible schedule that allows them to work the hours and days that fit them.
Uber Technologies Inc. has been doing things to make life easier for the independent contractors when they are on the job. The ride-hailing company recently announced a partnership with GetUpside and GasBuddy to launch a feature in its driver app that will provide drivers with information on nearby public restrooms, real-time gas prices and offer them savings at specific gas stations.
Other companies are following suit. DoorDash, with gig workers who deliver food, recently introduced SafeDash to help its drivers stay safe on the job.