One of what many social scientists consider to be a growing problem of modern economies is the spread of precarious work through the "gig economy." An increasing number of people are working as full-time freelancers, such as drivers for Uber and project-based consultants, through contracts that do not guarantee them fixed monthly salaries and employee benefits like insurance available to full-time staff. With incomes seasonally volatile and subject to changes at any time, such freelancers are rightly protesting their fates as expendable laborers with little leverage over their employers.
Yet, even as companies like Uber are coming under increasing pressure to provide freelancers with at least some semblance of financial stability by bestowing them with at least some perks of full-time employees, the "gig economy" itself is evolving. One aspect of the evolution seems to be the growing permission, and even encouragement, from firms to have their full-time employees take on second or side jobs outside the firm they work for full-time. What used to be considered a financial necessity due to low pay at the full-time job is being repackaged as a way to maintain multiple interests while working full-time.
The movement to encourage second jobs is particularly glaring in Japan. In a country that is still associated with lifetime full-time employment for employees in exchange for absolute loyalty to the employer, having a second job was until very recently, largely forbidden by standard employment contracts. Nor that most employees had the time to do a second job anyway, as many worked and drank overtime and on weekends, often in semi-mandatory fashion with co-workers. As such, most Japanese companies, until recently, never thought of there being anyone they can hire for second jobs.
Things are changing. Recent news show there is a subtle movement for large firms to allow employees to take on jobs outside regular work, as a means of reducing employee turnover. The logic goes that if an employee can do what he really wants to do on the side, there is little reason for the employee to quit his or her job to pursue a personal professional interest. New startups and NGOs are emerging to take advantage of new second job applicants, undertaking new projects and businesses with only part-time staff.
However, upon closer inspection, the shift toward allowing employees to have second jobs can be seen as a "back-door" method for larger firms to align themselves with the "gig economy" while still keeping their employees nominally full-time. For many companies, employees taking on second jobs is an opportune time for a reduction in salaries and benefits, perfectly justifiable given the reduced time commitment of the full-time employee taking on a second job. While these employees will not become freelancers overnight, the reduction of their fixed salaries is, for the companies allowing second jobs, a chance to reduce payroll, to compete on cost with firms relying more on freelancers.
Moreover, the second jobs that many of the full-time employees are taking up are essentially gigs. By becoming freelancers on the side, people with second jobs are inadvertently strengthening and expanding the "gig economy" by providing employers dependent on freelancers with extra supplies of expendable labor. The result of the increased pool of gig workers, then, bring down labor costs for freelancer-dependent firms like Uber and further increase the attractiveness of firms to switch from hiring full-time employees to hiring freelancers as the main workforce.
In other words, full-time employees who take up second jobs en masse may be weakening the pushback of current full-time freelancers against their current employers. For a company like Uber, if relevant laws do not change, it can simply handle protests by existing freelancers by replacing them with people on second jobs. Of course, limitations do exist due to the time availability of second-job-holders, but tweaks in the business model and negotiations with first-job employers may overcome such limitations.
All in all, the underlying motivation for companies to encourage employees to take on second jobs may be quite dark. While coated in the sweet language of encouraging workers to seek out other passions and introduce career flexibility while maintaining financial stability, encouragement to take up second jobs may in fact by more motivated by firms, both relying on full-timers and freelancers, to reduce costs and avail themselves to a larger number of workers only too willing to do gigs for their "personal passion." The resulting expansion of the "gig economy" can only hurt workers in the long-term by making everyone's jobs and finances more precarious.
Yet, even as companies like Uber are coming under increasing pressure to provide freelancers with at least some semblance of financial stability by bestowing them with at least some perks of full-time employees, the "gig economy" itself is evolving. One aspect of the evolution seems to be the growing permission, and even encouragement, from firms to have their full-time employees take on second or side jobs outside the firm they work for full-time. What used to be considered a financial necessity due to low pay at the full-time job is being repackaged as a way to maintain multiple interests while working full-time.
The movement to encourage second jobs is particularly glaring in Japan. In a country that is still associated with lifetime full-time employment for employees in exchange for absolute loyalty to the employer, having a second job was until very recently, largely forbidden by standard employment contracts. Nor that most employees had the time to do a second job anyway, as many worked and drank overtime and on weekends, often in semi-mandatory fashion with co-workers. As such, most Japanese companies, until recently, never thought of there being anyone they can hire for second jobs.
Things are changing. Recent news show there is a subtle movement for large firms to allow employees to take on jobs outside regular work, as a means of reducing employee turnover. The logic goes that if an employee can do what he really wants to do on the side, there is little reason for the employee to quit his or her job to pursue a personal professional interest. New startups and NGOs are emerging to take advantage of new second job applicants, undertaking new projects and businesses with only part-time staff.
However, upon closer inspection, the shift toward allowing employees to have second jobs can be seen as a "back-door" method for larger firms to align themselves with the "gig economy" while still keeping their employees nominally full-time. For many companies, employees taking on second jobs is an opportune time for a reduction in salaries and benefits, perfectly justifiable given the reduced time commitment of the full-time employee taking on a second job. While these employees will not become freelancers overnight, the reduction of their fixed salaries is, for the companies allowing second jobs, a chance to reduce payroll, to compete on cost with firms relying more on freelancers.
Moreover, the second jobs that many of the full-time employees are taking up are essentially gigs. By becoming freelancers on the side, people with second jobs are inadvertently strengthening and expanding the "gig economy" by providing employers dependent on freelancers with extra supplies of expendable labor. The result of the increased pool of gig workers, then, bring down labor costs for freelancer-dependent firms like Uber and further increase the attractiveness of firms to switch from hiring full-time employees to hiring freelancers as the main workforce.
In other words, full-time employees who take up second jobs en masse may be weakening the pushback of current full-time freelancers against their current employers. For a company like Uber, if relevant laws do not change, it can simply handle protests by existing freelancers by replacing them with people on second jobs. Of course, limitations do exist due to the time availability of second-job-holders, but tweaks in the business model and negotiations with first-job employers may overcome such limitations.
All in all, the underlying motivation for companies to encourage employees to take on second jobs may be quite dark. While coated in the sweet language of encouraging workers to seek out other passions and introduce career flexibility while maintaining financial stability, encouragement to take up second jobs may in fact by more motivated by firms, both relying on full-timers and freelancers, to reduce costs and avail themselves to a larger number of workers only too willing to do gigs for their "personal passion." The resulting expansion of the "gig economy" can only hurt workers in the long-term by making everyone's jobs and finances more precarious.
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