(Sponsored Content—) Being a ride-hail driver can bring a full range of experiences, and for drivers like Lance Hutchingson, it is a great experience the majority of the time.
Hutchingson said there is always the risk of an occasional crazy passenger that he can’t wait to get out of his car, but for the most part, the only complaint he has is that some people can be rude. Otherwise, with about 10,000 rides given between Lyft and Uber, Hutchingson enjoys his driving job.
“99.9% of the rides that you have are… a very pleasant experience,” said Hutchingson, an Uber driver from Tallahassee. “Every once in a great while, you're glad somebody got out of the car. But it's rare.”
Hutchingson is not alone when it comes to working independently, as ride-hailing and other gig economy jobs are on the rise, according to the MBO Partners’ State of Independence in America. After falling by 7% due to the pandemic, the number of independent workers has seen a 34% increase to 51.1 million employees in 2021 from 38.2 million in 2020. This includes freelance, part-time and full-time work.
Ride-hailing continues to be a large part of the market, with 90% of the gig economy composed of transportation-based services and asset-sharing platforms, a case study by Brodmin said. The global gig economy is expected to more than double from 2018 to 2023, rising to $455 billion from $204 billion, and the number of freelancers in the United States is expected to rise to 86 million by 2027, according to the study.
The study also found that 79% of full-time independents are happier with gig work than a traditional job. It also showed that gig workers tend to be more anxious about their finances, with 45% of full-time gig workers having a high economic anxiety index, higher than the 24% for traditional full-time workers. Medical coverage is also a concern for freelancers, with 54% having no access to employer-based benefits.
A Marketplace-Edison Research study in 2018 showed that 24% of all Americans over the age of 18 earned income from a gig economy job, and 44% of all gig workers used it as their primary source of income. More than half of gig workers between ages 18 and 34 had a gig job as their primary income source. It also notes that 51% of gig workers said they work harder for their income than in a traditional setting.
In a poll, 75.7% of gig workers said they would not leave their gig job if they were offered something more traditional and full-time, according to PYMNTS.com.