Freelance GIG !!! I am very sure every one out there in corporate field would have heard this term at least couple of times (though some might not be well aware of what it is)…
So what’s a GIG?
Freelance Gig! History
Can you guys believe that the term Gig was actually not from any dictionary initially? Mainly in the context of freelancing! The term actually came from 1920’s from music bands where they use it as a slang to address their job which is temporary or a one time/live performance. While they addressed as gig, they meant it as a one-time or a side-hustle apart from their traditional contracts.
Eventually, with the nature of the work that was addressed to is same for current freelancing world, the word spread beyond music to refer any short-term or a freelance job. So, over the decades the term was informally used and adopted in other creative fields such as acting, stand-up, comedy, photography.. The term gained lot of focus towards the field of technology after internet enabled independent work dramatically & drastically!
One of the other reasons and impact behind this gig economy was the 2008 economic crisis. The 2008 global financial crisis was the first big wake-up call for the traditional job holders as well. People lost their vanished overnight. Industries had collapsed. Employees who had put their blood and money of their lives into their dream professions, became suddenly dispensable left with very little transferable skill set or a backup plan.
So, if someone says they work on gigs, we should now understand that he’s not on any particular traditional contract/job, but a freelancer. To differentiate it we might want to add and call as freelance gig 🙂 !
With the emergence of platforms such as Fiverr, Uber, TaskRabbit etc, the concept of non-traditional jobs has exploded and so the term.
Please take a look at the post The History of The Gig Economy by Emiliano to know more about this Gig history.
So to answer my query in the title, yes Gig economy is not just booming, it’s already there. Especially after Covid-19, there are other factors such as work-life balance, freedom from bossism, exponential career growth & Monetisation, passion towards emerging technologies have provoked many to change their paths to Gig culture.
Now, let’s jump into some economics of these cultures and economy of Gigs & Traditional jobs.
Freelance Gig & Traditional Comparison
| Area | Traditional | Gig Types (Freelancer!) |
| Renumeration | Fixed & Secure (unless layoffs) | Variable – Depends on projects |
| Taxes | Auto deducts before even reaches the hands | Self fling |
| Benefits | PF, Insurance, provided by employer | Self managed |
| Career Growth | Slow and structured | Lot of scope. Depends on the skill upgrade and selling points |
| Income ceiling | Most of the time hard to break | Sky is the limit |
While the Freelance gig culture is emerged and evolving more, there still are some myths that many resonate with. Let’s talk about some:
Freelance Gig workers are always broke – Unless they don’t build the systems & personal branding
Not considered as a proper work (job) – Most of the gigs require discipline and lot of niche deep skills
Gigs are only for beginners – there are many CXOs who are freelancing for proper work life balance
Now that we have touched some myths, let’s also talk about some risks compared to traditional types. Many are already mentioned in above table, but here mentioning them again in risks.
New Flow of corporate hiring is already emerged
Even corporate companies are hiring & engaging freelancers with niche gigs
Here are some scenario that we can see now a days
Start ups – hiring freelance gigs such as freelancing social media managers and content writers and so on. All the below segments if they are start ups they are going for this emerging hiring strategy.
IT Firms – as an IT employee, I myself have tried outsourcing for QA work, documentation for contractors. Especially if the production releases not very aggressive, they don’t need to pay a full time employee. And with documentation, at times it’s really needed for some technical writer who is very skilled on a particular niche. It’s always not possible that we have that skill in the company. So hiring a gig is an instant solution. And mainly these guys with gig will usually be very talented and experienced with their skill as they have to sell them properly.
HR teams – they are using for bulk hiring drives. Here they hire gig-based interviewers for these drives. They have lot of potential and passion compared to direct employees. But it’s less in % if it’s an existing large firm. Small HR firms are already doing it as they even get them on a nominal prices.
Marketing Teams – UGC has become a trend now and I strongly feel that this is going to stay here for a while. While I watch Youtube or scroll over reels on Insta, I come across them a lot. I rarely come across the traditional Ads which we typically used to watch in TVs in last decade. UGS are way cheaper compared to Ad agencies.
Risks with GIG culture
Income – Unpredictability – While sky is limit for freelancers, you need lot of self-discipline to achieve and maintain the income
No perks such as PF, Insurance, Gratuity
Client dependency – Unlike traditional job, your client isn’t permanent with you at least till you build a concrete trust relationship with your services with him/her
No legal backing – you are your own boss which good, but it comes with some risk factor. To be a boss of your own, you got to know the legal language while signing up a contract. So, skill is very important (at least knowledge wise if not experienced)
The article in Britannica has a much more detailed explanation of Pros & Cons of this Gig culture.
Conclusive Statements/Tips/Thought
So end up: Both type of income streams have their own pros and cons. It depends on the individual and his choices to go with.
My take:
If you want a happy ongoing career with security, stable income, go with it. It has main cons such as low growth, bossism, politics etc.
If you want to grow faster, be your own boss, good monetisation, go with GIG-culture. Here must to have qualities would be – to be super disciplined (else you end up as a failure very easily), maintain super consistency (at least until you gain the authority), learn side skills (apart from core skills) such as legal, contracts, time management, client engagement, self-marketing etc, health is wealth to stay motivated and stay positive always. Some cons: No stable income (Ups and downs are normal here, but monetisation is high over all), continuous learner (if you are not a good learner this isn’t for you), no benefits (pay for your own health cards, no PF etc).
I hope this above article gave enough knowledge about GIG culture and helped you with those comparisons. Before closing, below article also might give you more insight and an ad-on to your post.
Ensure to buzz me a comment below for your views, thoughts, debates and so on. Thanks for reading this article! Stay connected!
And if you are already in the phase of starting your Freelance Gig journey, take a look at couple of books reviews on freelancing. These strategies might help you further.