Who benefits from the gig economy?

The fact is that more and more people choose to join the on-demand workforce because of its flexibility and its freedom in terms of choosing tasks, income, working hour and working condition. Gig economy offer so many choices and opportunities to the working class to be their own boss and obviously it comes at a price too. Yet, we only see the wonderful side of this so-call “independent contractor” and the dark side has been kept a secret. So, the on-demand workforce, do they really benefit from the gig economy? Personally, I think they do. Traditional work or freelance work, eventually our choice of work will come down to how much money we can earn and how much time it will take. For some people who have limited time and resources like a mommy, a student, someone who want to supplement their income, someone who recently got fired, or someone with a limited skill set, companies like Uber, Deliveroo, etc. are definitely life-saver. They offer us a temporary solution to resolve our needs and make ends meet. However, if we consider these gigs as a livelihood, it’s a whole different story. Generally, those companies did such a great job by broadcasting a wrong perspective of what it’s like, being self-employed instead of working for a boss, being flexible while making more money. However, it’s not that simple and amazing. Let’s take Uber as an example. The first question is, are Uber drivers really independent? Unfortunately, it’s not the case. The drivers are just managed differently, by the algorithm, the phone and the rate system that incentivize them to do exactly what the company wants and kick them out in a minute due to bad performance, 1-star-rate by a mean customer or even whatever general reason as the company have the right to do it. Still, the drivers are independent to some extent. They are on their own when it comes to tax duties, insurances, and precarious future when then get sick or get old. If they are injured or get into some incidences like being robbed, harassed, etc, the company won’t lift a finger because they are not employee. Getting bigger check is equivalent to having bigger responsibility and higher level of insecurity on the long term. Now let’s look at the reality to see if it’s worth the trade-off. Based on the fact, on-demand workers, even with a university degree are usually having trouble at piecing jobs together. Even getting minimum wage seems like a challenge. For example, if we do the math and deduct all the fees that come later on for an Uber driver, the driver gets literally almost nothing. The number increased in the bank account is in fact from their own car. Uber or gig company in general, are actually making money by ignoring worker’s rights and exploiting them. In summary, obviously, gig economy did change the relationship between employers and employees and offer diverse choices to the workforce but it benefits the company far more than the workers. How could we change the situation and offer rights and protections to the on-demand workforce?