69 percent of U.S. gig economy workers say they’re in it for the long haul, according to a new series of research reports from global asset manager Legal & General. Notwithstanding last week’s Bureau of Labor statistics + jobs report, in which employment numbers were up, with 263,000 new hires, pitted against President Biden’s labor proposal, which could bring millions of gig workers out of the gig economy, it seems there’s a major  sea change happening in the U.S. labor economy toward a more independent, if insecure way of working. 

Legal & General has just released the first part of a series of reports on the U.S. Gig Economy and self-employed workers. Who are these people? There’s far more to this group than Uber and Lyft drivers, food delivery folks and tech contractors, as you’ll see in the enclosed report. 

Among the areas the research explores:
 

• 69% see themselves working in the gig economy for the foreseeable future
• Flexibility is the key factor cited by 63% of respondents for working this way
• Gig work is more a conscious choice, not a fallback
• The single most popular driver: “I realized I could make more money this way”
• Discontent with working in a corporate setting
• Stats on lack of financial stability, long-term financial planning for retirement, etc.
• Financial security of full-time employment missed by majority of respondents
• Gig workers coming up short on their health insurance and life insurance needs
• What gig workers would need to go back to a traditional workplace setting
• What employers should do to encourage the return of gig workers to the workplace
• Pandemic fallout for the gig economy: not all bad

 
Attached is the report, and if you’d like to delve more deeply into the analysis, I’d be delighted to connect you with Legal & General’s Chief Executive, Sir Nigel Wilson, or John Godfrey, Director of Corporate Affairs.