In the 2016 press release that announced Waymo as “Google’s self-driving car project,” CEO John Krafcik wrote that “self-driving technology could be useful in ways the world has yet to imagine, creating many new types of products, jobs, and services.”
Nine years later, Waymo vehicles are on the roads, and while they obviously don’t create jobs for drivers, that press release was right about one thing: I never imagined that closing a car door for $22 would be a legitimate work gig, but it is now.
A Washington Post story on Thursday looks at tow truck operators who use an app called Honk to get paid to perform services for Waymo. One tow company owner, Evangelica Cuevas, describes a pretty bleak situation for herself and her drivers, being offered “$22 to $24” to close Waymo doors, and “$60 to $80” to tow them, perhaps because one ran out of juice while looking for a charger.
A University of Southern California data scientist named Georgios Petropoulos told the Post, “Humans are needed to interact with automated systems to make sure that service is provided in an efficient and safe way.”
And as the Post’s Lisa Bonos puts it: “The door-closing and towing gigs being picked up by Marenco and others in Los Angeles are examples of how as automation advances, it can create new work for humans pressed into service to patch over its shortcomings.”
Overall, it’s a disquieting vision of the future of work.
SAN FRANCISCO, December 10, 2025 (Newswire.com)
– Instawork today released The Year in Flexible Labor 2025, an annual view of the real-time labor dynamics that shaped local economies this year.
Based on millions of completed shifts across 150 markets, the real-time data shows affordability as the dominant force determining where businesses operate and where workers choose to earn. While major markets remained the busiest for total shifts, inland regions, particularly parts of North Carolina, Ohio, and Tennessee, saw the fastest acceleration in demand. This aligns with recent Census data showing that the fastest-growing U.S. metros were in Southern and inland markets.1
Logistics and manufacturing operations show a similar pattern. A 2025 study of 50 U.S. metro areas found that warehousing and distribution activity has increasingly re-concentrated in inland and mid-sized markets rather than coastal hubs, driven by land availability, operating costs, and proximity to regional supply chains.2 Instawork’s flexible labor data captures this trend in real-time.
Key Insights From Instawork Year in Flexible Labor 2025
1. Affordability Increased Staffing Pressure
Several major markets continued to show the largest demand for flexible work, but affordability challenges intensified sharply in 2025:
San Francisco and Seattle recorded the widest wage-inflation gaps, with real wages falling further behind the cost of essential goods.3
That pressure coincided with population and cost trends in inland markets where wage growth held closer to inflation and operating costs remained more stable.
2. Inland Metros Drove the Fastest Shift Growth
As affordability tightened in coastal markets, inland regions captured the strongest gains in flexible labor activity, reflecting broader economic and population expansion in the South and Midwest. Raleigh-Durham led the way with a surge in flexible labor demand followed by Nashville, New York, Columbus, and Dallas.
Instawork Year of Flexible Work 2025: The Inland Surge Inland Metros Drove the Fastest Shift Growth
3. Core Operational Roles and Midweek Demand Held Steady
General labor, warehouse work, back-of-house kitchen roles, and event staffing were in the highest demand throughout 2025, with businesses leaning on flexible staffing to manage an uncertain business environment.
Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Tuesdays (in that order) remained the busiest shift days, giving workers predictable midweek opportunities, while maintaining schedule and income flexibility.
4. Wage Movement by Occupation
Role-level wage trends varied, reflecting local cost pressures and staffing needs. Merchandisers saw the strongest wage growth, followed by brand ambassadors, security personnel, and entry-level warehouse workers. Hotel housekeepers, food service workers, and forklift drivers experienced slight declines.
Instawork Year in Flexible Labor 2025: Wage Growth by Occupation Wage Movement by Occupation
2025 Totals at a Glance
Top 5 most requested roles:
General Labor, Warehouse Associate, Line Cook, Event Server, Dishwasher
Fastest-growing markets:
Raleigh-Durham, Nashville, New York, Columbus, Dallas
Peak shift days:
Wednesday, Thursday, Tuesday (in order)
Average fill rate: 95%
Stat of the Year
Raleigh-Durham’s 50% shift growth and North Carolina’s broader population gains reflect a structural rise in inland economic activity, consistent with population and supply chain operations growth.1 2
Signals for 2026
Inland momentum will grow as businesses seek more predictable and lower-cost markets.
Wages and role demand will continue to vary as businesses respond to global economic uncertainty and cost pressures, which impact staffing needs.
Flexible staffing will continue serving as an affordability hedge, allowing operators to match labor to demand in real-time.
Major markets with improving wage-inflation alignment (e.g., New York, Atlanta) may become more attractive for logistics and hospitality expansion.
1. U.S. Census Bureau, “Metro Area Trends” (2025) and “Vintage 2024 Population Estimates”, showing growth in 88% of U.S. metros and fastest growth concentrated in Southern/inland cities.
2. ScienceDirect (2025), “Re-concentration of logistics activities across 50 U.S. metros,” documenting the inland/mid-sized shift in warehousing and distribution activity.
3. Instawork’s Quarterly Wage Index, December 2025
About Instawork
Instawork’s mission is to create economic opportunities for businesses and hourly workers across the globe. As the leading AI-powered marketplace for hourly labor, Instawork connects light industrial, hospitality, retail, and robotics companies to skilled workers, turning staffing agility into a competitive advantage. Instawork helps more than nine million workers earn on their terms while developing valuable skills.
Backed by leading investors such as Benchmark, Craft, Greylock, and Spark Capital, Instawork is redefining how businesses stay resilient and how people work.
New Analysis Reveals Real Hourly Pay is Falling Double-Digits Behind Inflation in Major Metros, Fueling a Localized Affordability Crisis and the Most Geographically Uneven Holiday Earnings Season Since the Pandemic
SAN FRANCISCO, December 2, 2025 (Newswire.com)
– As businesses gear up for the holiday rush, a new Instawork analysis reveals the widest affordability declines are now concentrated in San Francisco and Seattle, where real hourly pay has fallen furthest behind inflation since early 2022.
By contrast, Atlanta and New York have swung into positive real-wage territory, making them the most affordable major metros heading into the holidays. Chicago sits squarely in the middle, though worsening year-over-year.
Pay Index Winners and Losers
Hourly wages on Instawork have risen 13.65% since February 2022, but inflation rose faster – 14.81% – confirming that real wages nationally have slipped behind rising prices.
But, importantly, the national average masks a hyper-local labor market reality: These affordability challenges vary dramatically by metro area, widening the gap between what workers earn and the price of everyday essentials.
How to Read the Data:
The percentages represent the gap between local wage growth and inflation (Consumer Price Index or CPI) since early 2022.
Specifically:
A negative number = wages are losing to inflation.
A positive number = wages are outpacing inflation.
Hardest-Hit Markets: Largest Declines in Real Purchasing Power
Here’s where the gap between wage growth and inflation has widened the most since February 2022 – and where workers are staying closer to even.
San Francisco: -18.94% Now the most expensive major metro. Affordability eroded sharply over the past year, driven by elevated services inflation and cooling wage growth in events and logistics.
Seattle: -14.91% Still deeply underwater. Tech-sector cooling and softer warehouse demand slowed wage gains while living costs continued to rise.
Middle Tier: Real Wages Eroding, But Not Collapsing
Chicago: -9.97% Real earnings are slipping faster year over year. Wage growth has not kept pace with local prices, particularly across warehouse and hospitality segments.
Most Resilient Markets: Real Purchasing Power Improving
Atlanta: +5.34% One of the few markets beating inflation. Strong logistics infrastructure, film production cycles, and warehouse competition are pushing wages ahead of prices.
New York City: +1.40% One of the biggest turnarounds in the country. Wage growth has finally overtaken inflation, boosted by hospitality demand, warehousing activity, and sharper peak-season staffing discipline.
“The labor market isn’t one story – it’s five very different ones,” said Ashwin Somakur, Senior Economics Analyst at Instawork. “In some cities, a paycheck stretches less than ever. In others, wages are finally beating inflation. That split is changing how businesses staff – and how workers earn – in real time.
“Where affordability gaps are widest, companies are leaning on flexible labor to stay agile, and workers are taking extra shifts to keep up. It’s the clearest sign yet that flexibility is no longer optional – it’s the adjustment mechanism in a high-cost economy.”
Signals for 2026: What the Wage-Inflation Gap Suggests for the Year Ahead
Instawork’s analysis points to three early trends that could shape local labor markets in 2026.
1. Stable Wages May Attract New Investment
Cities like Atlanta and New York, where real wages have held steady with inflation, could become more attractive for logistics, hospitality, and events investment next year. Stable real wages often signal a healthier, more predictable balance between labor supply, demand, and pricing pressure.
2. Flexible Staffing as a Volatility Hedge
As businesses face unpredictable consumer spending and cost pressure, more are relying on shift-based staffing to precisely match labor to real-time demand. This allows employers to stay responsive without the risk of committing to permanent headcount changes.
3. Real-Time Staffing is the New Competitive Advantage
Instawork filled ~95% of shifts in 2025, often within hours – giving operators a clear, fast way to match labor to real-time needs and compete in unpredictable markets.
About the Instawork Quarterly Pay Index
The Quarterly Pay Index measures the relationship between hourly wages and consumer prices across key U.S. metros, providing one of the most accurate real-time views of current labor market dynamics. All series are indexed to February 2022 (100), with real-wage change calculated as wage growth minus the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Data sources include Instawork transactions (2022-2025), and The Bureau of Labor Statistics, including the Employer Cost Index and Consumer Price Index.
About Instawork
Instawork is the leading AI-powered marketplace in the U.S. and Canada, connecting local businesses with more than nine million skilled hourly professionals across hospitality, industrial, and retail. With its network of verified professionals and industry-leading trust and safety, Instawork helps companies like DoorDash, Hilton, Alibaba, and Walmart scale staffing with speed and confidence.
Our top-rated app attracts the largest pool of talent by offering flexibility, competitive pay, and meaningful opportunities for advancement – keeping businesses fully staffed and operational in fast-changing labor markets.
India has granted legal status to millions of gig and platform workers under its newly implemented labor laws, marking a milestone for the country’s delivery, ride-hailing and e-commerce workforce — yet with benefits still unclear and platforms beginning to assess their obligations, access to social security remains out of reach.
The recognition stems from the Code on Social Security — one of four labor laws the Indian government brought into effect on Friday — more than five years after the parliament first passed them in 2020. It is the only part of the new framework that addresses gig and platform workers, as the remaining three codes — covering wages, industrial relations, and workplace safety — do not extend minimum earnings, employment protections or working-condition guarantees to this rapidly expanding workforce.
India has one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing gig economies, with industry estimates suggesting that more than 12 million people deliver food, drive ride-hailing cabs, sort e-commerce packages, and perform other on-demand services for digital platforms. The sector has become a critical source of employment, especially for young and migrant workers shut out of formal job markets, and is projected to expand further as companies scale logistics, retail, and hyperlocal delivery.
Companies from Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart to Indian quick-delivery apps such as Swiggy, Eternal’s Blinkit, and Zepto, as well as ride-hailing firms including Uber, Ola, and Rapido, rely on gig workers to run their businesses in the South Asian nation — the world’s second-largest internet and smartphone market after China. Yet despite powering some of India’s most valuable tech businesses, most gig workers operate outside traditional labor protections and lack access to basic social security.
The newly implemented labor laws are intended to change that, by defining gig and platform workers in statute and requiring aggregators, such as food-delivery and ride-hailing platforms, to contribute 1–2% of their annual revenue (capped at 5% of payments made to such workers) to a government-managed social security fund. But the details remain murky: what exact benefits will actually be offered, how workers will access them, and how contributions will be tracked across multiple platforms, and when payouts will begin all remain unclear, raising concerns that meaningful protections may take years to materialize.
A Zomato delivery boy moves through New DelhiImage Credits:Nasir Kachroo/NurPhoto / Getty Images
The Code on Social Security creates a legal framework for gig workers to be covered under schemes such as the Employees’ State Insurance, provident fund, and government-backed insurance. However, the extent of these benefits — including eligibility, contribution levels, and delivery mechanisms — remains unclear and will depend on future rules and scheme notifications.
A key part of the framework is the creation of Social Security Boards at both the central and state levels, tasked with designing and overseeing welfare schemes for gig and platform workers. The central board must include five representatives of gig and platform workers and five representatives of aggregators, all nominated by the government, alongside senior officials, experts, and state representatives, per the Code. But there is little clarity on how decisions will be made, how much influence worker representatives will actually have, or who will ultimately control decisions on funding and benefit delivery.
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“We need to wait and see what exactly is in the government’s mind when it comes to implementing the four Codes, and what it hopes to do for gig workers,” said Balaji Parthasarathy, a professor at IIIT Bangalore and principal investigator of the Fairwork India project. “And then we also have to see what the states translate on the ground.”
Parthasarathy noted that because labor policy in India is shared between the federal and state governments — listed in the “concurrent list” of the Indian Constitution — state governments are responsible for designing, notifying, and administering many of the schemes needed to make the Code on Social Security operational for gig workers.
That raises the possibility of uneven access, as some states move quickly to establish social security boards and roll out mechanisms, while others delay or deprioritize the effort due to political or fiscal constraints. Recent examples — such as Rajasthan’s stalled legislation after it was passed in 2023, and Karnataka’s Gig Workers Act, which was implemented soon after clearing the state assembly — underscore how workers’ protections may ultimately depend on where they live rather than the law itself.
Platform companies have publicly welcomed the reform, but are still largely evaluating what it will require of them. An Amazon India spokesperson told TechCrunch the company supports the Indian government’s intent behind the labor overhaul and is evaluating the changes it will need to introduce. A spokesperson for Zepto said the company welcomes the new labor codes as “a big step toward clearer, simpler rules that protect workers while supporting ease of doing business,” adding that the changes will help strengthen social security for its delivery partners without undermining the flexibility that quick-commerce operations rely on.
Food delivery firm Eternal, formerly known as Zomato, said in a stock exchange filing that the Social Security Code is a step toward more uniform rules and that it does not expect the financial impact to threaten its long-term business.
Nonetheless, Aprajita Rana, a partner at corporate law firm AZB & Partners, said the change “will naturally have a financial impact” on India’s e-commerce sector, as worker contributions are now being formalized. It will also create new compliance obligations, requiring companies to ensure all workers in their networks are registered with the government-managed fund, determine whether individuals are associated with multiple aggregators and how to avoid duplicative benefits, and set up internal grievance mechanisms.
“While the law has the right intent, gig worker structures in India are quite novel, and practical challenges in compliance will emerge as the law takes force,” Rana told TechCrunch.
One of the biggest hurdles for gig workers seeking benefits under the newly implemented law will be registering on the Indian government’s E-Shram portal, launched in 2021 as a national database of unorganized workers. The portal had registered more than 300,000 platform workers as of the end of August, even though the government estimates India’s gig workforce at around 10 million. Trade unions, including the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers (IFAT), which has more than 70,000 members, are working to help gig workers enroll so they can access the benefits.
Ambika Tandon, a PhD candidate at the University of Cambridge and an affiliate of the national trade union Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), said registering on the portal could mean lost wages for gig workers, since they would have to take time off to fill in required details.
“These workers work for 16 hours a day,” she told TechCrunch. “They don’t have time to go and register themselves on the government portal.”
CITU is also among the ten major Indian trade unions calling for the withdrawal of the new labor laws, ahead of nationwide protests planned for Wednesday.
The benefits of registering on the E-Shram portal are not compelling for many gig workers, Tandon noted, because the law does not address more immediate concerns such as fluctuating earnings, account suspensions, and sudden termination of accounts — issues that workers say matter far more right now than access to insurance or provident fund benefits.
Trade unions often organize strikes to push platforms to address these concerns directly. However, such actions can disrupt everyone involved, including consumers, and put workers at further risk, as they are not paid while striking and may even face termination for participating.
Swiggy workers protested in Kolkata in 2023Image Credits:NurPhoto / Contributor / Getty Images
“While the social security rules have now been put in place, we demand a minimum wage and an employer–employee relationship for gig and platform workers, which are yet to be set by the government,” said Shaik Salauddin, founder president of the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union (TGPWU), which has more than 10,000 members in the southern state of Telangana, and national general secretary of IFAT. “We urge the government to obtain data from aggregators and secure their monetary contributions to the fund to start offering benefits to workers.”
There is a broader debate over whether gig workers should be treated as employees — a question the new labor laws do not address. The Social Security Code defines gig and platform workers as a separate category, rather than extending them the rights and protections that come with employee status. In contrast, courts and regulators in markets such as the U.K., Spain, and New Zealand have moved toward recognizing platform workers as employees or “workers,” entitled to minimum wages, paid leave, and other benefits. In some U.S. jurisdictions, regulators and courts have pushed for platform workers to be treated as employees or similarly protected workers, though many ride-hail and delivery drivers remain classified as independent contractors.
“With this law, the Indian government has settled this debate by saying that these gig workers do not sit within the ambit of employment or other protections,” Tandon said.
The Indian labor ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
Amid heated debate over moonlighting, India’s second-largest IT firm Infosys has allowed its employees to take up job opportunities outside the company with the prior consent of their managers and HR on Thursday. In an email, the software services exporter said: “Any employee, who wishes to take up gig work, may do so, with the prior consent of their manager and BP-HR, and in their personal time, for establishments that do not compete with Infosys or Infosys’ clients.”
With this move, Infosys has become the first major IT company to allow its employees to take up gig work. The decision comes amid ongoing debates around moonlighting – a term to describe employees who take up a second job while being on the payroll of another firm – and employee rights in not just the IT industry but also in other professional work domains.
Infosys CEO Salil Parekh recently said that the company did not support dual employment or working on gigs that could be in conflict with their work at the firm. He said that the company already had a platform that allowed employees to do internal gig work on internal projects.
Infosys’ latest email to its employees nowhere mentioned ‘moonlighting’. It laid down guidelines assisting employees in taking up side projects that do not stand in direct conflict with their employment contract. The email said that Infosys counts on its employees to ensure that this does not impact their ability to work with the company effectively.
“In addition, as per Infosys employment contract, employees may not work in areas when there is a potential conflict of interest or by accepting dual employment,” it said as per the report. The email further said Infosys, being an organisation that values learnability, totally supports its employees to take up additional projects.
The whole moonlighting debate was started by Wipro chairman Rishad Premji, who in a tweet on August 20 said: “There is a lot of chatter about people moonlighting in the tech industry. This is cheating – plain and simple.” After him, many tech honchos voiced their opposition to moonlighting.
RPG Enterprises chairman Harsh Goenka said moonlighting cannot be tolerated because of data, which is sacrosanct. “Moonlighting: Wipro vs Swiggy – they just can’t be compared. Wipro deals with Fortune 500 clients for whom data secrecy is sacrosanct. If the customer finds even a remote chance of data compromise, it will not be tolerated,” he said.
However, just days ago, former HCL CEO Vineet Nayar said moonlighting is unstoppable. He also questioned the top management of companies saying if their involvement in other companies as board members or as investors in startups amounts to moonlighting.
