ReportWire

Tag: Gig Economy

  • Most Gen-Z Employees See Traditional Career Paths Coming to an End

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    Many employers and co-workers have voiced exasperation at Gen-Zers’ reputed resistance—if not defiance—to conforming with traditional workplace roles and demands. New data indicates the workforce’s youngest members not only don’t plan on bending to that criticism, but even view the long-held business models those gripes are based on as doomed.

    That view of traditional work and career paradigms being destined for the ash pile of history appears to explain many why many Gen-Zers are behaving in ways that alternatively confuse and annoy older colleagues. According to the latest Next Gen of Work report by freelance job platform Fiverr, its survey of 12,000 workers born between 1995 and 2012 found a majority saying the model of working one’s way through the corporate ranks will soon be sleeping with the fishes alongside cradle-to-grave employment. That view explains why many cohort members are not only disinclined to comply with workplace expectations and demands, but think conforming to a mold in order to keep a long-term job has become a road to nowhere.

    As a result, a mere 18 percent of Gen-Z respondents cited ascending a profession with a single employer as a smart way of getting ahead in the world. Bolder still, over half of survey participants—or 54 percent of the total—predicted traditional employment itself will become obsolete in coming years. And only 14 percent of Gen-Zers questioned listed working for a well-known corporation as one of their career ambitions—furthering the cohort’s break with the tenets that dominated post-war employment.

    Not illogically, many Gen-Zers who view career paths that older generations adhered to as living on borrowed time are instead creating alternatives to the 9-to-5, five-day week, working for a single employer models. As part of that, many of them are turning to income stacking—or generating multiple sources of revenue by juggling several professional activities. Fully 67 percent of Fiverr survey participants said they considered having an array of revenue sources as essential to attaining financial security.

    But in addition to Gen-Zers’ (in)famous determination to blaze their own trails tailored to their personal interests—often at the expense of workplace conformity and harmony—there’s another factor driving their multi-activity alternative. The survey found many cohort members are haunted by worries that a single job and income won’t allow them to get by.

    “Faced with economic uncertainty, Gen Z is experiencing what we’re calling ‘single-paycheck panic’—they’re diversifying income streams because relying on one job feels too risky,” said Michelle Baltrusitis, Fiverr’s associate director of community and social impact in comments on the survey results. “Instead of waiting for stability, they’re betting on themselves by embracing freelancing and building financial resilience as the smarter path forward.”

    But Baltrusitis stresses that “Gen Z isn’t rejecting work, they’re redefining it.” The survey found respondents often start doing that even before quitting the full-time jobs they consider doomed. Nearly 40 percent of survey participants said they had or currently were taking on freelancing work in addition to 9-to-5 jobs they held down.

    The reason for that transitioning? Nearly half of respondents cited not making enough money as their biggest career worry. In addition to whatever presumably insufficient salaries they were earning from full-time positions, many Gen-Z survey participants said external costs like high rents, increasing prices, and paying off student loans have made working just one job too risky.

    And as they shift from a single job to the independence of juggling multiple gigs full-time, a large portion of Gen-Zers are adapting their use of artificial intelligence at work in ways that are also beneficial to their outside activities. Nearly 60 percent of respondents said they trust the tech to assume some of their professional responsibilities. Meanwhile, 20 percent or more of survey participants said they used apps for help in brainstorming their multiplying workflows, generating content, and improving creative ideas.

    But even as they define what they consider post-modern work paradigms, the survey found Gen-Zers remained conscious of—and a bit hacked off by—the ways former and future co-workers viewed them.

    Nearly a quarter of respondents said older colleagues were off base in considering members of the younger cohort as lazy. As an apparent reflection of their willingness to toil away alongside previous generations, just 17 percent of respondents listed early retirement as a career ambition.

    That attitude may well earn Gen-Zers more respect from older colleagues, but they’d get even more props—plus heartfelt thanks—if they’d do something about the stare.

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    Bruce Crumley

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  • Lyft’s belated Pet Mode matches drivers to those traveling with their furry friends

    Lyft’s belated Pet Mode matches drivers to those traveling with their furry friends

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    Monday is National Dog Day, and Lyft seized the opportunity to catch up on a feature equivalent to one Uber has had for about five years. When heading somewhere with a furry companion, Lyft’s new Pet Mode lets you designate that you’ll bring them along, ensuring you’ll get a driver to accommodate your dog or cat.

    Like Uber Pet, Lyft’s Pet Mode adds a surcharge — in this case, $4 plus tax. The company says the fee goes directly to the driver.

    The new Pet Mode could’ve come in handy a year ago during the saga of Tux the Cat, who was being taken to the vet by her owner Palash Pandey. A Lyft driver in Austin, TX, was accused of speeding off with Tux (inside a carrier) still in the car’s backseat, ignoring Pandey’s pleas as he banged on the window. The driver responded to Pandey’s in-app messages, claiming not to have the feline.

    Days passed as Pandey made desperate calls to the Austin Police Department and viral postings on Reddit and X (Twitter). Eventually, media outlets picked up the story, and Lyft’s PR team went into crisis mode. CEO David Risher even got involved.

    Tux was finally located under a stairwell about a mile from the drop-off point. It was a momentarily viral fiasco with a feel-good ending, but a feature that ensured passengers got matched with pet-friendly drivers would have likely prevented it. “[The driver] told me that if he’d known I’d had a cat, he wouldn’t have picked me up,” The Washington Post reported Pandey as saying. “He said he was allergic to cats and would have canceled the ride. My drop-off location was a pet hospital, and I was holding a pet carrier, so it’s hard to figure that one out.”

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    Will Shanklin

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  • New ‘HAILaGEEK’ App Connects Customers Needing Urgent Tech Repair With Technicians Available Right Now

    New ‘HAILaGEEK’ App Connects Customers Needing Urgent Tech Repair With Technicians Available Right Now

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    Tech emergency? Now you can hail a repair technician as easy as hailing a ride.


    HOUSTON, August 14, 2024 (Newswire.com)
    –
    The new HAILaGEEK app provides a platform where users can instantly find and engage nearby, background-checked technicians for various technology repair and installation services. The app covers a wide range of services, including PC repair, Mac repair, smartphone repair, virus removal, general computer support, business IT support, audio/video setups, home theater installations, smart home configurations, and support for Linux, Cisco, and Windows Server systems.

    The app’s creator, HAILaGEEK LP, is a Texas Limited Partnership established in May 2019. Comprised of 17 partners, the company created and launched the HAILaGEEK App, initially serving the Houston, TX, and College Station, TX areas. The app connects consumers with available IT and electronics repair professionals for immediate on-site service, eliminating the need for appointments.

    Before professionals can offer their services through the HAILaGEEK App, they undergo a comprehensive vetting process. This includes ID verification, a skill assessment, and a background check. This ensures that only qualified and trustworthy technicians are available to consumers.

    HAILaGEEK operates as a gig economy app, classifying its technicians as independent contractors. This model allows technicians to choose their working hours, providing flexibility similar to other gig economy platforms. However, the gig economy business model has drawn criticism and legal challenges due to the lack of worker protections typically afforded to employees.

    The HAILaGEEK App was launched on March 30, 2020, for both iPhone and Android devices. It offers real-time location tracking of available technicians, allowing users to request services and make payments through the app, akin to hailing a ride. The app also provides options for scheduling services if immediate assistance is not required.

    HAILaGEEK has been reviewed and rated on various platforms, receiving positive feedback for its innovative approach to on-site tech support. The app has been featured in multiple media outlets and technology discussions, highlighting its convenience and efficiency.

    Source: HAILaGEEK

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  • California Supreme Court Rules That Uber and Lyft Drivers Will Remain Independent Contractors

    California Supreme Court Rules That Uber and Lyft Drivers Will Remain Independent Contractors

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    The California Supreme Court on Thursday ruled unanimously that drivers for app-based companies including Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash will remain independent contractors, as opposed to employees. The decision, upholding a state ballot measure called Proposition 22, was considered a major victory for the gig-economy companies.

    The question of whether those who drive for the companies should be treated as employees or contractors has spurred a yearslong legal battle in the state. In 2020, California voters approved Proposition 22, allowing app-based companies to continue to treat their workers as independent contractors. That vote reversed an earlier court ruling that found such companies controlled too many of their drivers’ working conditions to treat them as contractors. The ballot measure campaign cost its advocates, including Uber, Lyft, Postmates, Instacart, and DoorDash, some $200 million, breaking state records for spending.

    Driver advocates have long argued that those behind the wheel were due the same sort of benefits offered to full-time employees, including health care, sick pay, and workers’ compensation. The companies have said that gig work is an entirely new and flexible form of work, and that treating drivers as employees would reshape their businesses. One 2020 analysis suggested that treating drivers as employees in California would cost Uber and Lyft nearly $800 million annually in just payroll taxes and benefits.

    The 2020 ballot measure required the app-based companies to institute a wage floor, at least for the time drivers spend with passengers in the car, and to pay out health care stipends for workers who drive enough monthly hours.

    “Today’s decision was supposed to bring justice, to confirm that even as workers who are managed by apps on our phone, by algorithms, by AI, that we are indeed workers with robot managers,” Nicole Moore, president of Rideshare Drivers United and a part-time driver in Los Angeles, said during a briefing with reporters following the decision. “And we deserve the same rights and benefits as all other workers in our state. But that did not happen today.” Moore called on lawmakers in the state to find a “creative pathway” to ensure that drivers are protected and paid fairly.

    In a statement, Uber said the ruling put “an end to misguided attempts to force [drivers] into an employment model that they overwhelmingly do not want.” Lyft also praised the decision: “We are pleased to continue to bring Californians closer to their friends, family, and neighbors, and provide drivers with access to flexible earnings opportunities and benefits while preserving their independence.”

    On a call for reporters hosted by proponents of Proposition 22, some drivers said they were glad that app-based companies would maintain their flexibility. “I’m just so grateful right now,” said driver Stephanie Whitfield, who works in the Coachella Valley.

    The ruling won’t have a direct effect on other states’ gig worker laws, but could influence policy in other places. Minnesota and Colorado both recently passed laws instituting better pay standards for app-based drivers, though neither resolved whether workers should be treated as contractors or employees. The Biden administration has taken aim at worker misclassification in the gig economy through new labor rules, though app-based companies say those rules don’t affect their businesses.

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    Aarian Marshall, Amanda Hoover

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  • How Uber and the gig economy changed the way we live and work

    How Uber and the gig economy changed the way we live and work

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    Gig work predates the internet. Besides traditional forms of self-employment, like plumbing, offers for ad-hoc services have long been found in the Yellow Pages and newspaper classified ads, and later Craigslist and Backpage which supplanted them. Low-cost broadband internet allowed for the proliferation of computer-based gig platforms like Mechanical Turk, Fiverr and Elance, which offered just about anyone some extra pocket change. But once smartphones took off, everywhere could be an office, and everything could be a gig — and thus the gig economy was born.

    Maybe it was a confluence of technological advancement and broad financial anxiety from the 2008 recession, but prospects were bad, people needed money and many had no freedom to be picky about how. This was the same era in which the phrase “the sharing economy” proliferated — at once sold as an antidote to overconsumption, but that freedom from ownership belied the more worrying commoditization of any skill or asset. Of all the companies to take advantage of this climate, none went further or have held on harder than Uber.

    Uber became infamous for railroading its way into new markets without getting approval from regulators. It cemented its reputation as a corporate ne’er-do-well through a byzantine scandal to avoid regulatory scrutiny, several smaller ones over user privacy and minimally-beneficial surcharges as well as, in its infancy, an internal reputation for sexual harassment and discrimination. Early on, the company used its deep reserves of venture capital to subsidize its own rides, eating away at the traditional cab industry in a given market, only to eventually increase prices and try to minimize driver pay once it reached a dominant position. Those same reserves were spent aggressively recruiting drivers with signup bonuses and convincing them they could be their own boss.

    Self-employment has a whiff of something liberatory, but Uber effectively turned a traditionally employee-based industry into one that was contractor-based. This meant that one of the first casualties of the ride-sharing boom were taxi medallions. For decades, cab drivers in many locales effectively saw these licenses as retirement plans, as they’d be able to sell them on to newcomers when it was time to hang up their flat cap. But in large part due to the influx of ride-sharing services, the value of medallions has plummeted over the last decade or so — in New York, for instance, the value of a medallion dropped from around $1 million in 2014 to $100,000 in 2021. That’s in tandem with a drop in earnings, leaving many struggling to pay off enormous loans they took out to buy a medallion.

    Some jurisdictions have sought to offset that collapse in medallion value. Quebec pledged $250 million CAD in 2018 to compensate cab drivers. Other regulators, particularly in Australia, applied a per-ride fee to ride-sharing services as part of efforts to replace taxi licenses and compensate medallion holders. In each of those cases, taxpayers and riders, not rideshare companies, bore the brunt of the impact on medallion holders.

    At first it was just cab drivers that were hurting, but over the years, compensation for this new class of non-employee app drivers dried up too. In 2017, Uber paid $20 million to settle allegations from the Federal Trade Commission that it used false promises about potential earnings to entice drivers to join its platform. Late last year, Uber and Lyft agreed to pay $328 million to New York drivers after the state conducted a wage theft investigation. The settlement also guaranteed a minimum hourly rate for drivers outside of New York City, where drivers were already subject to minimum rates under Taxi & Limousine Commission rules.

    Many rideshare drivers have also sought recognition as employees rather than contractors, so they can have a consistent hourly wage, overtime pay and benefits — efforts that the likes of Uber and rival Lyft have been fighting against. In January, the Department of Labor issued a final rule that aims to make it more difficult for gig economy companies to classify workers as independent contractors rather than employees. The EU is also weighing a provisional deal to reclassify millions of app workers as employees.

    Of course, the partial erosion of an entire industry’s labor market wasn’t always the end goal. At one point, Uber wanted to zero out labor costs by getting rid of drivers entirely. It planned to do so by rolling out a fleet of self-driving vehicles and flying taxis.

    “The reason Uber could be expensive is because you’re not just paying for the car — you’re paying for the other dude in the car,” former CEO Travis Kalanick said in 2014, a day after Uber suggested drivers could make $90,000 per year on the platform. “When there’s no other dude in the car, the cost of taking an Uber anywhere becomes cheaper than owning a vehicle. So the magic there is, you basically bring the cost below the cost of ownership for everybody, and then car ownership goes away.”

    Uber’s grand automation plans didn’t work out as intended, however. The company, under current CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, sold its self-driving car and flying taxi units in late 2020.

    Uber’s success had second-order effects too: despite a business model best described as “set money on fire until (fingers crossed!) a monopoly is established” a whole slew of startups were born, taking their cues from Uber or explicitly pitching themselves as “Uber for X.” Sure, you might find a place to stay on Airbnb or Vrbo that’s nicer and less expensive than a hotel room. But studies have shown that such companies have harmed the affordability and availability of housing in some markets, as many landlords and real-estate developers opt for more profitable short-term rentals instead of offering units for long-term rentals or sale. Airbnb has faced plenty of other issues over the years, from a string of lawsuits to a mass shooting at a rental home.

    Increasingly, this is becoming the blueprint. Goods and services are exchanged by third parties, facilitated by a semi-automated platform rather than a human being. The platform’s algorithm creates the thinnest veneer between choice and control for the workers who perform identical labor to the industry that platform came to replace, but that veneer allows the platform to avoid traditionally pesky things like legal liability and labor laws. Meanwhile, customers with fewer alternative options find themselves held captive by these once-cheap platforms that are now coming to collect their dues. Dazzled by the promise of innovation, regulators rolled over or signed a deal with the devil. It’s everyone else who’s paying the cost.

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    To celebrate Engadget’s 20th anniversary, we’re taking a look back at the products and services that have changed the industry since March 2, 2004.

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    Kris Holt

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  • Meet a 30-year-old delivery driver who dumped the apps to go into business for himself because of a minimum wage law

    Meet a 30-year-old delivery driver who dumped the apps to go into business for himself because of a minimum wage law

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    Tony Illes was riding high for four years as a full-time delivery driver for several apps—by his count, he made 10,000 deliveries, a good living in the gig economy. Just weeks ago, it all came to a screeching halt when he suddenly found himself waiting six hours for a single UberEats delivery request. 

    “Demand was dead,” the 30-year-old Illes told Fortune. 

    Shortly afterward, he launched Tony Delivers, a service where Illes brings hungry Seattleites in his Beacon Hill neighborhood food deliveries on his e-bike or e-scooter. Every order in a 1.5- mile diameter costs $5, no matter what customers order.

    “I feel more capable than just sitting around waiting for some app to deliver you the goods….I can go get it myself,” he said.

    Now Illes’ full-time job, Tony Delivers added some consistency to his volatile gig work. He did not share sales figures with Fortune, but he said the business is successful and getting “better every single day.” Why did this long-time gig worker have to go into business for himself, though?

    City Hall plays a part in this story—and a minimum wage ordinance that was designed to help gig workers.

    The long waits between orders only began after Jan. 13, 2024 when Seattle enacted an ordinance that boosted the minimum wage for delivery-app drivers. While the ordinance was meant to protect gig workers who rely on the income they earn from making deliveries plus tips, app-based companies didn’t just absorb those costs. Instead, they rolled them into the fees customers pay for service, and if you talk to them and drivers like Illes, there was a catastrophic drop-off in business. 

    Steven Marchese, director of the Seattle Office of Labor Standards, said the law was “an important step forward,” but delivery app executives felt differently. To offset increased operating costs in the city, delivery apps including UberEats and DoorDash implemented additional fees to cover deliveries and platform costs. As a result, DoorDash calculated, fewer customers used the delivery apps, leaving drivers waiting around. 

    “People are upset, they’re hurt; their wallets are hurting, Illes said. “They’re having to make much different consumer decisions.”

    Driving away demand

    At 30, Illes is in the same position as a growing number of Gen Zers and millennials who have turned to gig work to make a living. Bank of America found that as of August 2023, 4.3% of millennials earned income from gig work, double the percentage of six years ago. Overall, the Seattle minimum wage ordinance estimated that the city is home to about 40,000 app-based workers.

    Classified for tax purposes as 1099 workers, app-based delivery drivers are not guaranteed the same protections as full-time, W2 employees, such as health insurance or minimum wage. These differences have prompted workers to organize. Gig workers’ efforts recently culminated in a Valentine’s Day strike across the U.S., UK, and Canada, with thousands of Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash drivers refusing to take orders on one of the busiest delivery days of the year.

    Marchese said these actions have encouraged the city to do right by their workers. It’s why Seattle, among other cities such as New York and Minneapolis, have pushed to pass ordinances that protect these workers and set minimum wages. But app-delivery companies have countered that laws claiming to protect workers are actually leaving the drivers vulnerable.

    The fallout was swift and brutal. After the ordinance was enacted last month, DoorDash implemented a $4.99 regulatory fee, and UberEats similarly introduced a $5 local operating fee. Instacart set its default tip option to $0.

    In the two weeks following the law’s implementation, Seattle businesses missed out on $1 million in revenue, according to a Tuesday DoorDash blog post, which also claimed that there were 30,000 fewer delivery requests on the DoorDash Marketplace. Drivers waited three times longer on average to receive order requests on the app. Uber told Fortune that its drivers are waiting up to 30% longer, and Instacart reported similar issues.

    Some restaurants are backing app companies’ claims. Local Indian spot Spica Waala saw a 30% year-over-year decline in app orders, which make up 30% of the restaurant’s business, co-owner Uttam Mukherjee told GeekWire.

    “I’m frustrated with the fact that we now have to bear the brunt of all of this,” he said. Seattle’s experience may be infuriating to drivers and restaurant owners, but it’s fascinating to economists, who have debated the pros and cons of a higher minimum wage for years.

    The minimum wage wars

    The Seattle ordinance, originally passed in May 2022, outlines minimum compensation amounts for app-based delivery workers.  Per the ordinance, companies will either pay workers a minimum, per-minute wage of $0.44 combined with a minimum per-mile wage of $0.74, or a minimum per-offer amount of $5. The ordinance requires app companies to pay whichever value is greater. These amounts are to be adjusted for annual inflation rates and standard mileage rate adjustments. As a result, delivery drivers in Seattle will now earn at least $26.40 per hour before tips. The ordinance also requires apps to provide increased transparency about their payment records and receipts, and gives workers the right to turn away delivery requests without being penalized.

    This effort is one of many the city has taken to support gig workers in the past decade, starting in 2018, when Seattle passed the Domestic Workers Ordinance to extend minimum wage protections to all domestic workers, regardless of employee status. Pandemic-era ordinances provided premium pay and paid sick time for gig workers, but they were suspended in 2022 after the COVID-19 public health emergency ended.

    “It’s been a policy goal of the city, through all the labor standards that we’ve got, to establish baseline protections for all workers, so that we can ensure that this is a fair economy for all workers,” Marchese told Fortune.

    Getty

    Politicians and labor organizers have been locked in a long-running debate on increasing the minimum wage, which hasn’t changed on the federal level since 2009. Because of the lack of movement, state and local legislators have taken matters into their own hands, leading to wages that wildly differ across regions based on cost of living and political leanings. While minimum wage in Georgia and Wyoming’s minimum is $5.15 (though employers have to abide by the federal requirement), Washington has the highest minimum wage of $16.28. Seattle’s is even higher at $19.97.

    Seattle has experienced its fair share of gig work-related turmoil in recent years. In August, DoorDash agreed to a $1.6 million settlement with the City of Seattle for allegedly violating the city’s paid sick time ordinance. UberEats reached a $3.3 million settlement with Seattle in October 2022 over an alleged violation of the Gig Worker Premium Pay Ordinance.

    But app-based delivery companies have continued to push back against these policies. They are calling the minimum wage ordinance a threat to both local businesses and drivers.

    “The burden of this kind of over-regulation is almost guaranteed to impact everyone in Seattle who uses these services, including the customers and small businesses who rely on it and the delivery workers that lose out on earning opportunities,” an Uber spokesperson told Fortune.

    Where are fee hikes coming from?

    Other app-delivery workers know who to blame for these demand woes: Not the government trying to increase their standard of living, but their (not-full-time) employers. 

    “The thing that pissed me off is they [tried] to move the conflict between the driver and the customers,” Wei Lin, a GoPuff driver and member of delivery drivers union Working Washington, told Fortune. “It was a company’s decision to make a fee. Seattle never said, ‘Oh, just increase the fee on the customer so you can have money to pay the drivers.’”

    The pushback on the ordinance is just one grievance Lin has toward the app-delivery companies. Lin said he’s had six pay cuts since beginning his time as a food-delivery driver in 2020, despite city protections in place. He’s not alone: Delivery drivers lost up to 15% of their income from the apps in 2023. 

    “I’m just an expendable product for the company,” Lin said. “They don’t actually treat us fairly.”

    A Gopuff grocery and food delivery courier

    Getty

    Public app-delivery companies are feeling the squeeze, too, as they race to become profitable.  Uber only just had its first profitable year in 2023, while Lyft’s strong fourth-quarter earnings indicate it is on its way to the same. DoorDash continues to grow its users, but still reported bigger-than-expected fourth-quarter losses.

    Adding fees to account for the increased operating costs in Seattle is justifiable, Marchese said, but there’s a lack of transparency about how various companies—each with different fees and policies—are calculating how to offset operating costs.

    The city doesn’t know if the ordinance is costing the companies’ more money than before or how much it might be, Marchese said. “That’s all information that’s within their control or knowledge.”

    City officials are meeting with app companies and shareholders to draft legislation to increase transparency between them.

    Apps’ lack of transparency is exactly what Illes is capitalizing on to build his business. The ethos behind Tony Delivers is the opposite of the apps, Illes said. There’s full transparency in his business because there’s little to hide: no fees to calculate or rates to apply. Illes’ philosophy—as indicated by the catchphrase on his website, “Oh yup…my homie Tone got me”—is to build trust with customers in a competitive gig economy.

    “At the end of the day, it just comes down to one simple thing: price point,” Illes said. “And if the price point is similar, you’re gonna pick the guy that cares.”

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    Sasha Rogelberg

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  • Tens of thousands of workers were laid off in January. If you were affected, here’s how you may find work faster

    Tens of thousands of workers were laid off in January. If you were affected, here’s how you may find work faster

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    Skynesher | E+ | Getty Images

    New government data shows a surprisingly strong job market for the month of January.

    But there are signs of weakness in the labor market, based on tens of thousands of workers who have been laid off since 2024 started.

    U.S. employers announced 82,307 job cuts in January, up from 34,817 in December, a 136% increase, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

    Still, that is down 20% from the 102,943 cuts announced in January 2023 and the all-time high for that month in 2009, with 241,749 job losses.

    At the same time, the latest data shows the U.S. job market is still strong, with the unemployment rate holding at 3.7%.

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    Moreover, the number of job openings stands at nine million, which is still elevated compared to prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, yet down from a 12 million peak, noted Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate.

    “On the one hand, Americans should have a sense that their job security is generally speaking in a good place,” Hamrick said. “At the same time, we have to understand that certain sectors of the economy may be experiencing more disruption or innovation.”

    With that innovation comes a higher risk that workers may suffer from an income loss as the economy adjusts, he said.

    For example, retail brands may be shedding positions as they continue to transition from brick-and-mortar stores to online sales. Sectors tied to the mortgage industry are repositioning in the wake of higher interest rates. Areas such as entertainment and media are adjusting to new online streaming and subscription models.

    “There’s still the benefit of the elevated number of job openings,” despite the anecdotal evidence that job cuts are happening, Hamrick said.

    Some companies that have open positions are eager to fill them.

    “There are still companies that are hiring, and they can’t find talent fast enough,” said Vicki Salemi, career expert at Monster.

    If you’re newly out of work, taking these steps may help you get hired faster.

    1. Take a moment to grieve

    Losing a job typically prompts a feeling of rejection, Salemi said, while getting a job offer instead prompts acceptance and optimism about the future.

    To get to that latter phase faster, it helps to take a moment to acknowledge your feelings and shift into a better mindset.

    Salemi recalls working as a corporate recruiter to help two candidates who had just been let go to prepare for their job search.

    The first candidate who was excited about potential opportunities landed a new job in six weeks. The other who was shell-shocked from the layoff took longer than six months to find a new position.

    Mindset and attitude make all the difference, according to Salemi. “Navigating this journey can be challenging, but it can definitely be overcome,” Salemi said.

    2. Refine your search strategy

    Update your resume with your latest accomplishments based on recent performance reviews, Salemi said.

    To refresh your interviewing skills, try practicing with a friend, setting up informational interviews or getting tips from a career coach.

    When you see a relevant position advertised, be sure to apply quickly. “Don’t wait more than 24 hours — the job may be gone,” Salemi said.

    Also, be sure to include keywords that will help put your applications to the top of a recruiter’s results, she said.

    3. Identify the ideal position for you

    Start thinking about the ideal job and what that looks like for you by asking yourself some key questions, Salemi advised.

    Where is your ideal position based: in office, hybrid or remote? What industry is it in? What tasks does it require? Are there strengths or items you absolutely loved doing in your last position that you want to continue doing?

    4. Keep your skills sharp

    Use your time away from a full-time role to continue advancing your skills. That may include taking on a part-time role, volunteer work or online class.

    When interviewing, be sure to highlight how those experiences have kept your skills fresh and enhanced what you can offer, Salemi said.

    5. Know your worth

    Just because you’re out of work doesn’t necessarily mean you need to take a lower salary for your next role. Even if you are coming to a new position without a job, do not discount your worth because you’re unemployed, Salemi said.

    Employers are more surprised when you don’t negotiate than when you do, according to Salemi.

    “Don’t be shy about negotiating that offer,” Salemi said.

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  • Instawork Creates the Largest Professional Network for Hourly Workers

    Instawork Creates the Largest Professional Network for Hourly Workers

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    The flexible work platform provides its global network of users new work opportunities with unique training and certification to further advance their careers


    SAN FRANCISCO, October 10, 2023 (Newswire.com)
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    Instawork, the leading platform for connecting businesses with skilled hourly workers across the United States and Canada, announced today that it has over 5 million users, creating the largest professional network for hourly workers.

    Over the past year, businesses and workers across the country have requested Instawork in their cities to provide an easy way for them to easily connect. As a result, Instawork has recently announced availability in several new markets, including Buffalo/Rochester, Charleston, Cleveland, Hartford, Milwaukee, Providence, Raleigh-Durham, Savannah, Virginia Beach, and Richmond.

    Instawork’s network offers hourly workers the ability to leverage their skills and experience to further advance their careers by verifying credentials on and off the Instawork platform. The platform also reinforces worker and business rating signals and enhances its machine learning capabilities to best match workers with available shifts. Unique training and certification opportunities will also unlock work for millions of users who are not eligible for certain shifts due to a current lack of certification or if they wish to highlight their certifications outside of the Instawork platform. 

    “Hourly workers are the backbone of the economy, and they deserve better recognition for the critical role they play. The pandemic made it clear that digital transformation is no longer optional, and the growing need for a digital profile of record for hourly workers is a reflection of this trend,” said Sumir Meghani, Co-Founder and CEO of Instawork. “By providing a secure and accessible platform for workers to showcase their skills and experiences, we can help bridge the gap between workers and the businesses they serve, and create a more equitable and inclusive labor market.”

    The announcement follows Instawork’s recent $60M Series D funding to accelerate investment in AI-driven capabilities that will help optimize how businesses connect with hourly workers. Fueled by this growth, Instawork is helping staff distribution centers for some of the country’s largest retailers as well as the majority of sports stadiums across the U.S. and Canada. 

    Instawork was ranked in the top 10% of the country’s fastest-growing companies by Inc. 5000. In 2022, Instawork was included in the Forbes Next Billion Dollar Startup list, received the 2022 ACE Award recipient for “Best Innovation,” and was named one of the “Best Business Apps” by Business Insider. Those interested in learning more about Instawork should visit www.instawork.com or download the app.

    About Instawork

    Founded in 2016, Instawork is the leading flexible work app for hourly workers. Its platform connects thousands of businesses with over five million workers, filling a critical role in local economies. Instawork has been featured on CBS News, the Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and more. Instawork helps businesses in the food & beverage, hospitality, and warehouse/logistics industries fill temporary and permanent job opportunities in more than 40 markets across the U.S. and Canada. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

    Source: Instawork

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  • Lyft Launches New Gender Matching Feature for Safety | Entrepreneur

    Lyft Launches New Gender Matching Feature for Safety | Entrepreneur

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    When it comes to using a ride-sharing app, everyone has their preferences — silence, music, whether or not you want the windows down. However, Lyft is taking it one step further, and giving riders a preference on the gender of their driver.

    On Tuesday, the ride-sharing app announced the launch of Women+ Connect, which allows women to prioritize matching with women or nonbinary drivers for their trips. The feature can be activated within the settings tab on the app, and is available in San Francisco, Chicago, Phoenix, San Diego, and San Jose, with plans to expand to other locations soon. Although the new feature will prioritize being matched with a female or nonbinary rider/driver, a user may still be matched with a male if no users of the desired gender are available in the area.

    The program is only available to Lyft users who identify as female or nonbinary.

    The company says the new feature was designed to enhance safety and promote female participation in its ride-hailing service.

    “Women drivers tell us it’s hard to drive at night,” Jody Kelman, Lyft’s executive vice president of customers, told The New York Times. “We need to remove a barrier for women drivers today.”

    Lyft’s female-forward feature comes amid growing awareness of safety concerns related to ride-sharing apps.

    Related: DoorDash Employee Says Customer Pulled Knife on Her During Creepy Delivery: ‘I Just Want Some Human Contact’

    Gig Workers Rising, an activist group fighting for the safety and protection of gig workers, found that 80 app-based workers were killed on the job between 2017 and 2022, and 31 were murdered in 2022 alone.

    In 2021, an NBC investigation spoke to 15 gig workers, and all admitted they have “feared for their safety” while on the job.

    In the wake of the violence, several gig-based apps have taken measures to buffer safety features for riders and drivers. Since 2021, Uber has rolled out a series of enhanced safety features including stricter verification procedures, freezing accounts of users exhibiting suspicious behavior, the ability to record the ride through the front-facing camera, and the option to capture audio during the journey. In June, Doordash added a new safety feature that allows drivers to share their trips with up to five contacts.

    Related: Uber, Lyft to Share Information About Drivers Banned for Assault

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    Madeline Garfinkle

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  • Gig Workers Track ‘Tip-Baiters’ on Google Maps. Are You There? | Entrepreneur

    Gig Workers Track ‘Tip-Baiters’ on Google Maps. Are You There? | Entrepreneur

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    Gig workers rely on tips to supplement their income, and some customers are taking advantage of it. So-called “tip-baiters” place their orders with generous tips on apps like DoorDash or Instacart — then lower or reduce them to nothing after the delivery’s been made.

    But some of them are facing the consequences. Gig workers are tracking “tip-baiter” addresses on Google Maps privately and publicly, Insider reported.

    Related: Starbucks Customers Are Furious Over New Digital Tipping System

    Tipping in general has become more contentious in recent years. According to Bankrate’s annual tipping survey, 66% of U.S. adults have a negative view of tipping, and 41% believe businesses should pay employees more rather than rely on customers for tips.

    Related: More than 65% of Americans Hate Tipping. Follow These 3 Rules to Avoid Overspending, Feeling Guilty and Ripped Off.

    Although “it was not hard to find” houses with the “tip-baiter” designation on Google Maps, the outlet noted that several points vanished after it contacted Google for comment on the story.

    One Minnesota-based Instacart shopper told Insider anonymously that she first marks tip-baiters on a private map; then, if she finds out another shopper experienced the same treatment, she’ll create a publicly visible landmark on Google Maps.

    Related: Tipping Culture Has Americans Fuming. Follow These 3 Rules.

    Does your address have the “tip-baiter” stamp of shame? If you’ve never lowered a tip post-delivery, you should be in the clear. And if you have, well, you might want to take a look at your house on Google Maps.

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    Amanda Breen

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  • The gig economy grows at a time of ever-evolving apps | Long Island Business News

    The gig economy grows at a time of ever-evolving apps | Long Island Business News

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    Some see a mountain of chores. Others see revenue and hiring opportunities. It all depends on your perspective. And in an ever-evolving technological world, apps are allowing businesses to reach more people than ever before possible.

    Take laundry.

    On Long Island and elsewhere, people can now tap the Poplin app, request a pick-up and expect their shirts and such delivered the next day, freshly washed and expertly folded.

    MORT FERTEL: The company’s goal is to “change the way humanity relates to laundry.” Courtesy of Poplin

    “There’s been no innovation in this space since the washer and dryer 100 years ago,” CEO Mort Fertel said about laundry, from the company’s Salt Lake City headquarters.

    People are “still burdened by this chore,” Fertel pointed out. Poplin, he said, alleviates that burden.

    Poplin – and other enterprises that help busy households with such responsibilities as pet care, grocery shopping and more – is vital to the gig economy, where people earn extra income as independent contractors.

    An estimated 58 million Americans say they are independent workers, according to a 2022 survey by McKinsey & Company, the global management consulting company. As independent contractors, they have flexibility and autonomy, though the path does not include health insurance and other benefits.

    Still, there is plenty of opportunity to pick up earnings, especially at a time of ever-evolving technology. “Ridesharing and digital food delivery platforms have grown exponentially in recent years and match increasingly large pools of workers with potential customers,” according to McKinsey.

    For gig workers, opportunities abound in a time when consumers order restaurant meals through delivery service apps from GrubHub and Seamless, and order their grocery items from Instacart.

    Poplin, which Fertel said has raised $10 million from venture capitalists and angel investors, has about 200 gig-workers on Long Island and 115,000 nationwide, serving 48 states and more than 500 cities. The company’s trained and vetted “laundry pros” can pick up and throw a load of laundry into the machine while they are watching the kids or working another job from home, or perhaps on evenings and weekends. The top gig-workers earn as much as $5,000 a month, with some even hitting six-figures a year, the company claims. One worker in Suffolk County told LIBN that she was earning $1,000 a month while she worked another job at home, helping her to afford repairs for her recently purchased house.

    Pet care providers from Port Washington-based Leslie’s Leashes, which was founded in 2013, can earn $450 and up, said owner Leslie Stern. There are a number of variables that come into play when earning income. Factors include how many pets a client has and if a pet needs care early in the morning or late at night. Also contributing is the type of service needed, including dog walking, puppy playtime, boarding and overnight pet sitting, pet visits and pet transportation to a groomer, vet or airport.

    LESLIE STERN: We’re a boutique pet-sitting service. Photo by Linda Nutter

    The company’s app, Stern said, is “invaluable” in running the business, whose clients are based in Port Washington, Manhasset, Great Neck and other communities along the north shore of Nassau County. During the firm’s “growth trajectory, I realized quickly that I needed it for organization,” she said.

    The company is now on its second app, “Time for Pet.” The app is not only a vital platform for scheduling, invoicing, accounts receivable, but also is a “key communication tool that is very user friendly,” Stern said.

    Through the app, clients share concerns they might have about their pet on a particular day – for example, “Riley seemed off this morning” – and the provider can offer any updates about how their pet is faring. Clients get those updates with accurate timestamps and, through GPS, can track a pet’s walk.

    This level of detail “is a comfort to the pet owner,” Stern said.

    That kind of touch is also visible at Poplin. The laundry is delivered in clear plastic bags with a pink ribbon tied at the top with a handwritten thank-you card to each client. “It’s an interesting combination of professionalism and personalization,” Fertel said.

     

    Walking in their shoes

    With businesses that aim to make clients’ lives easier, it helps to have walked in their shoes. That’s how Poplin got its start in 2017.

    “My wife was home with our five kids and was buried in laundry,” Fertel said. Seeing her pain, their son Nachson Fertel, who was following the growth of Uber at the time, offered to build an app to create a business that would provide a solution. Nine months later, the company was launched, with father and son as cofounders.

    Stern said she knows all too well how clients may feel about a provider coming into the home. Prior to launching her company, she had hired someone to feed her cats. “I came home to find the guy sleeping in my chair, when he was only supposed to be in my apartment for 20 minutes,” Stern said. Now, in an age of Ring doorbells and home cameras, Stern reminds the providers she’s carefully trained to “assume you are on camera all the time.”

    Trust plays a big role in providing household services.

    At Poplin, all of the laundry pros are vetted with background and identity checks, Fertel said. Background checks play an important role, too, at Leslie’s Leashes.

    Moving forward, Fertel sees opportunity for “scaling up,” he said. That includes expanding market share with not only residential households but also another client base that includes laundry-generating businesses, including chiropractors and property managers.

    Looking to mass adoption, Fertel said the company’s goal is to “change the way humanity relates to laundry.” Whereas people connect the Whirlpool brand to laundry, Fertel said, in “three to five years, they are going to say Poplin.”

    Meanwhile at Leslie’s Leashes, Stern is keeping her focus in the communities she currently serves.

    “We’re a boutique pet-sitting service,” she said. “Once you get bigger, the quality of care can go downhill. I’d rather be small. It is a very personalized business.”

    o

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    Adina Genn

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  • Lyft and Uber say they will leave Minneapolis if the mayor signs a minimum wage bill for drivers | CNN Business

    Lyft and Uber say they will leave Minneapolis if the mayor signs a minimum wage bill for drivers | CNN Business

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    New York
    CNN
     — 

    Lyft and Uber threatened to stop doing business in Minneapolis after the city council adopted a new rule Thursday that would set a minimum wage for rideshare drivers.

    In a 7-5 vote, the Minneapolis City Council passed an ordinance that includes a number of rideshare worker protections, including a minimum wage for Uber and Lyft drivers. Mayor Jacob Frey has the opportunity to veto the ordinance and has until next Wednesday, August 23, to do so.

    The proposed ordinance mandates at least $1.40 per mile and $0.51 per minute within Minneapolis be paid to drivers. Minneapolis is debating the minimum wage as gig workers across the country are advocating for fair wages and job benefits. In recent years, states and cities have attempted to pass legislation regarding the growing “gig economy,” or freelance work through apps like Uber and Grubhub, but have generally met with fierce opposition.

    On Tuesday, Lyft sent a letter to the council saying “Should this proposal become law, Lyft will be forced to cease operations in the City of Minneapolis on its effective date of January 1, 2024.”

    Lyft, according to a statement sent to CNN Thursday, said the bill would be detrimental to drivers, who would ultimately earn less, “because prices could double and only the most wealthy could still afford a ride.”

    The company said the bill had been “jammed through the Council” and urged Frey to veto the bill and instead allow time for the state’s rideshare task force to complete its research.

    Uber sent an email to its drivers on Monday, urging them to contact the Mayor and City Council to ask them to oppose the move. Uber said its drivers sent over 700 emails on Thursday, but did not specify what was in those emails.

    In its email, Uber said the legislation could “greatly limit” its ability to remove unsafe drivers from the platform and increase the cost of rides.

    “If this bill were to pass, we would unfortunately have no choice but to greatly reduce service, and possibly shut down operations entirely,” Uber wrote.

    In an email to City Council on Wednesday, Frey said he was concerned about the ordinance.

    “This ordinance stands to significantly impact our city in terms of worker protections, public safety, disability rights, and transportation mode shift goals,” he said. After meeting with a broad group of stakeholders, Frey said “It is clear that we must allow more time for deliberation.”

    After the ordinance passed on Thursday, Ally Peters, spokesperson for the Office of Mayor Frey told CNN via email, “As the mayor laid out in his letter to the City Council yesterday, he supports drivers being paid more.

    In recent years, states have attempted to pass legislation regarding the growing “gig economy,” or freelance work through apps like Uber and Grubhub.

    In 2020, California passed Prop. 22, backed by more than $200 million from the most influential gig economy companies. The controversial ballot measure allows the companies to treat drivers as independent contractors rather as employees. Though it was a major win for the likes of Uber and Lyft, it did include a minimum earnings guarantee (though it doesn’t include the time a driver spends waiting for a gig).

    In June, New York City announced a new minimum pay-rate for app food delivery workers amid the rise in use of services like Uber Eats and DoorDash since the pandemic. Uber and other food delivery apps sued the city in July, maintaining that the law would hurt delivery workers more than help them.

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  • Research reveals majority of gig economy workers are earning below minimum wage

    Research reveals majority of gig economy workers are earning below minimum wage

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    Newswise — As the cost of living continues to spiral, a new report shows more than half of gig economy workers in the UK are paid below the minimum wage.

    The first-of-its-kind study, led by the University of Bristol, found 52% of gig workers doing jobs ranging from data entry to food delivery were earning below the minimum wage. On average respondents were earning £8.97 per hour – around 15% below the current UK minimum wage, which rose to £10.42 this month.

    More than three-quarters (76%) of survey respondents also experienced work-related insecurity and anxiety.

    Lead author Dr Alex Wood, Senior Lecturer in Human Resource Management and Future of Work at the University of Bristol Business School, said: “The findings highlight that working in the UK gig economy often entails low pay, anxiety, and stress. As food, fuel and housing costs keep rising, this group of workers are especially vulnerable and need to be more adequately remunerated and better protected.”

    Equally concerning, more than a quarter (28%) felt they were risking their health or safety in doing gig work and a quarter (25%) experienced pain on the job.

    When asked what would improve their situation, basic rights such as minimum wage rates, holiday and sick pay, and protection against unfair dismissal were most wanted.

    Unions and platform councils (similar to works councils that exist in some European countries) to represent their needs and help influence how gig economy platforms operate and affect their working conditions also featured on their wish list. More than three-quarters of respondents believed the introduction of such bodies would bring immediate benefits.

    Dr Wood said: “A major factor contributing to low pay rates is that this work involves spending significant amounts of time waiting or looking for work while logged on to a platform. Not only is the work low paid, but it is also extremely insecure and risky.

    “The self-employed who are dependent on platforms to make a living are urgently in need of labour protections to shield them against the huge power asymmetries that exist in the sector. This clearly warrants the expansion of the current ‘worker’ status to protect them.”

    The study involved 510 UK gig economy workers who were surveyed last year. There was representation from across the sector, with around half being remote freelancers using platforms such as Upwork and Fiverr to pick up jobs ranging from data entry to website design. The other half comprised local drivers providing food delivery and taxi services via platforms including Deliveroo and Uber.

    More than just side hustles to earn extra cash, respondents spent on average 28 hours a week undertaking gig work, comprising 60% of their total earnings.

    Respondents overwhelmingly considered their work to be best described as self-employment and thought an extension of labour rights to include the self-employed would significantly improve their working lives.

    This was the first research to investigate what forms of voice gig workers want. The findings suggest strong support for European style co-determination whereby worker representatives are consulted on and approve changes that impact working conditions and employment. Works councils that exist in countries like Germany could therefore provide a model for platform councils and assemblies in the gig economy to facilitate workers having a say over the decisions which affect their ability to make a living.

    Brendan Burchell, Professor in Social Sciences at the University of Cambridge and co-author of the report, added: “Respondents strongly felt the creation of co-determination mechanisms would allow workers, and their representatives, to influence platform provider decisions which could instantly improve their working lives.

    “These policies include elected bodies of worker representatives approving all major platform changes that impact jobs and working conditions. Our findings emphasise the potential for trade union growth in this sector, with majorities being willing to join and even organise such bodies.”

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    University of Bristol

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  • Top Income Tax-Deduction Tips for Creators, Social Influencers and Gig Workers | Entrepreneur

    Top Income Tax-Deduction Tips for Creators, Social Influencers and Gig Workers | Entrepreneur

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    The workforce is more diversified than ever, so let’s shine a light on the spectrum of allowable deductions.

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    Jaideep Singh

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  • Elon Musk ‘a perfect recruitment tool’ for organized labor, says new UK unions boss

    Elon Musk ‘a perfect recruitment tool’ for organized labor, says new UK unions boss

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    LONDON — Elon Musk’s controversial Twitter firing spree is sending workers into the arms of organized labor, according to the new head of Britain’s Trades Union Congress.

    “Elon Musk is a perfect recruitment tool for the trade union movement,” Paul Nowak told POLITICO. Since the Tesla billionaire took over the social media platform in October, Prospect, one of the trade union federation’s 48 affiliates, “has seen its membership in Twitter go up tenfold,” he said.

    The influx is “precisely in response” to Musk, argued Nowak, who “thinks he can issue a directive from San Francisco that somehow just happens all around the world with no regard to employment law.”

    Musk has fired roughly 3,700 employees — nearly half of Twitter’s workforce — in a round of mass layoffs since buying the company.

    U.K. Twitter employees earmarked for an exit received an email saying their job would be “potentially” impacted or “at risk,” because, under British law, firms are required to consult with staff over mass redundancies.

    In November, Musk meanwhile gave staff an email ultimatum to either go “extremely hardcore” by “working long hours at high intensity” or quit the company.

    Musk’s behavior is, Nowak said, “a great recruiting tool for us.”

    “If I was a young worker in tech, I’d be thinking that being a union member might be a good investment at the moment,” he said. “If it can happen at Twitter, it can happen anywhere.”

    Unions have in recent years ramped up their activity in another part of the tech world: the gig economy. Uber and food delivery service Deliveroo recently signed agreements with unions, while some Apple stores have voted for union recognition. Last year also saw the first-ever industrial action ballots at a U.K. Amazon warehouse.

    Organized labor is “beginning to make inroads” in tech, Nowak said — but it still needs “to step up that work.” Twitter had not responded to a request for comment by the time of publication.

    Strikes

    Nowak takes the helm at the TUC at a time of major industrial unrest in the U.K, as employees in a host of sectors rail against stagnant wages amid soaring inflation.

    U.K. Twitter employees earmarked for an exit received an email saying their job would be “potentially” impacted or “at risk” | Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

    “It doesn’t matter whether it’s railway workers, postal workers, nurses, paramedics, our members aren’t on strike for the sake of it,” he said.

    Since the financial crisis in 2008, the median income in Britain has fallen behind neighboring countries in Europe. An analysis by the TUC shows workers are £20,000 poorer, on average, since 2008 because pay has failed to keep up with inflation. By 2025 the union group expects that gap to increase to £24,000, with even larger gulfs for frontline healthcare staff who are striking.

    Britain’s Retail Price Index measure inflation reached 14 percent last year, and economists forecast inflation — in part spurred by the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — will persist longer in the U.K. than among its G7 partners.  

    “Households can’t afford as much as they have been able to in the past,” said Josie Dent, managing economist at the Centre for Economics and Business Research. “Naturally that creates weaker demand.”

    Against that backdrop, Novak said he wants the British government to stimulate domestic demand by putting more pay in workers’ pockets. The government argues boosting public sector pay will further fuel inflation and push its already shaky public finances further into the red.

    “What do our members do when our members get paid and get decent pay rises? They go and spend that money in local shops, hotels, restaurants,” said Nowak, and “they don’t squirrel it away in offshore bank accounts, or save it away for a rainy day.”

    “You have to create demand internally in the economy as well,” he added. “We’ve had the government sort of turn that common sense on its head.”

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    Graham Lanktree

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  • Tampa Residents Increasingly Leverage Flexible Work to Pay Holiday Expenses

    Tampa Residents Increasingly Leverage Flexible Work to Pay Holiday Expenses

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    The flexible work app, Instawork, matches a network of on-demand hourly workers with Florida businesses.

    Press Release
    –

    Dec 1, 2022 08:00 EST


    SAN FRANCISCO, December 1, 2022 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Instawork, the leading platform for connecting businesses with skilled workers, announced today the platform’s availability to hourly workers in the Tampa area looking to earn higher wages as holiday and end-of-year travel are expected to be the highest in years.

    In Tampa, the average hourly pay rate on the Instawork platform is $16.52 per hour, a vast improvement over the state’s minimum wage of $11 per hour. That steep increase gives Sunshine State residents a way to pay for expensive additions to their household budgets during the holidays. 

    It also comes as New York Fed researchers recently reported that credit card balances in the third quarter were up $38 billion – the biggest annual increase in more than two decades. Florida residents can remedy this and start paying down their holiday bills by downloading the Instawork app, creating a profile, and finding work opportunities with businesses across the Tampa area.

    While Florida recently increased the state minimum wage by a dollar as part of its six-year plan to bring the minimum wage to $15 by 2026, flexible workers who join Instawork can achieve an increased level of income without delay. Immediate access to higher pay rates are also crucial with current inflation and a recession looming. 

    More than 60,000 people in Tampa have already downloaded the Instawork app and are working to staff business locations across the area. Common roles for Instawork in Tampa include general labor, counter staff/cashier, warehouse associate, line cook, and event servers. Local workers can easily create a profile, find a shift that matches their skills and interests, and start working in as little as 24 hours.

    “I love Instawork and will likely never go back to a full-time job again,” said James Morter, an Instawork Pro and Tampa resident. “It gives me the flexibility I need to take care of my kids and pick and choose when I work. It’s by far the best work platform I’ve tried.”

    Tampa businesses that rely on Instawork range from nationally-recognized hotels and restaurant groups to some of the area’s favorite local hot spots and sports venues. They have easy access to quality, reliable workers, following Instawork’s announcement that over 1 million people have joined the app in recent months leading up to the holiday season to fill shifts in the first post-Covid holiday season. 

    “Instawork has been a blessing for us. We would not be able to operate without it. Instawork has completely changed the staffing landscape for the better,” said Steve Andress, President of Florida Statewide Logistics. 

    Instawork is currently staffing businesses in more than 30 markets across the U.S. and Canada. Those interested in learning more about Instawork should visit www.instawork.com or download the app.

    About Instawork
    Founded in 2016, Instawork is the leading flexible work app for local, hourly professionals. Its digital marketplace connects thousands of businesses and more than three million workers, filling a critical role in local economies. Instawork has been featured on CBS News, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Associated Press, and more. In 2022, Instawork was ranked in the top 10% of the country’s fastest-growing companies by Inc. 5000 and was included in the Forbes Next Billion Dollar Startup list. Instawork was also named the 2022 ACE Award recipient for “Best Innovation,” one of the “Best Business Apps” by Business Insider. Instawork helps businesses in the food & beverage, hospitality, and warehouse/logistics industries fill temporary and permanent job opportunities in more than 30 markets across the U.S. and Canada. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

    Source: Instawork

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  • YourEncore® Joins AARP® Employer Pledge Program

    YourEncore® Joins AARP® Employer Pledge Program

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    National effort helps employers solve staffing challenges, directs job seekers to employers that value and hire experience

    Press Release
    –


    updated: Jun 12, 2017


    Indianapolis, IN, June 12, 2017 (Newswire.com)
    –
    ​​​​​​​​​​YourEncore, a leading provider of world-class expertise for flexible resourcing and consulting engagements to life sciences and consumer goods companies, has joined more than 450 organizations in signing the AARP Employer Pledge, confirming their commitment to hiring across the age spectrum and leveraging the value that experienced workers bring to companies of all sizes.

    “YourEncore was founded on the core principle that experience matters,” said Mike Lewis, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer at YourEncore. “Our mission is to put experience to work. We offer clients the opportunity to tap into the most accomplished and experienced community of experts in the world, and we offer our talent community, or YourEncore Experts as we call them, the opportunity to use their experience to make a lasting difference. We are excited to join with AARP in its mission to drive awareness of the wisdom, experience, and technical skill of accomplished business professionals.”

    “YourEncore was founded on the core principle that experience matters. We are excited to join with AARP in its mission to drive awareness of the wisdom, experience, and technical skill of accomplished business professionals. We’re passionate about creating the workforce of the future…one that is ageless, inspires and engages talent, and accelerates business performance. We look forward to working with AARP on this all-important journey.”

    Mike Lewis, YourEncore Chief Sales & Marketing Officer

    Employers are facing a chasm of wisdom, experience, and absolute talent supply that places achievement of their business objectives at risk. Over 10,000 Baby Boomers retire every day. While Millennials currently provide the workforce with a large infusion of talent, their numbers alone are still not enough to stem the tide of departing Boomers1. This talent gap cannot be closed with traditional employment models. Given the seismic shifts taking place in today’s workforce, companies need to think differently about how they utilize talent, and individuals need to think differently about how they approach work. YourEncore is uniquely positioned to provide both groups with the solutions they need to successfully navigate and take advantage of this perfect storm that is today’s economy.

    YourEncore combines cutting-edge technology and high-touch personal engagement to build robust, vibrant talent communities, match talent to business requirements, and create tailored talent solutions that allow clients to transform and grow and Experts to realize their personal and professional goals.

    Although some Boomers are stepping away from traditional full-time, career-focused employment, many want to continue working, for a host of reasons from social to professional to financial2. YourEncore is a leader in mobilizing this “encore workforce” and has helped thousands of Experts build successful consulting careers through rewarding project work and professional development.

    For clients, YourEncore deploys world class expertise from their Expert Network to solve complex problems, support critical initiatives, and fill capability and capacity gaps. Experts are hand-picked and matched for subject matter expertise and business acumen. They are alumni from some of the best companies in the world, average over 25 years of experience, and the majority hold advanced degrees. The power of that experience – which the AARP Employer Pledge Program is designed to elevate – is the impetus behind the founding and on-going growth of YourEncore.

    “We’re passionate about creating the workforce of the future…one that is ageless, inspires and engages talent, and accelerates business performance,” said Lewis. “We look forward to working with AARP on this all-important journey.”

    About YourEncore®: YourEncore is a leading provider of proven expertise, delivering flexible resourcing and consulting services to the biopharma, medical devices and diagnostics, and consumer goods industries. YourEncore mobilizes the wisdom and knowledge of highly experienced, immediately effective Experts to help companies outthink, outpace, and outperform. Based in Indianapolis, IN, with offices in Cincinnati, OH and Princeton, NJ, YourEncore was named a “100 Most Brilliant Company” by Entrepreneur Magazine. For more information, visit yourencore.com and follow us on Facebook @YourEncore, Twitter @YourEncoreInc, and LinkedIn.

    1https://www.conference-board.org/laborshortages/

    2https://www.transamericacenter.org/docs/default-source/retirement-survey-of-workers/tcrs2016_sr_perspectives_on_retirement_baby_boomers_genx_millennials.pdf

    Media Contacts:

    Mike Lewis 609.216.7903 mike.lewis@yourencore.com

    Nancy Reilly 513.609.4516 nancy.reilly@yourencore.com

    Source: YourEncore, Inc.

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