This chapter builds on the previous discussion that has conceptualized and theorized gig work to explore trends in the gig economy. The first section introduces a discussion on how to operationalize gig work; that is, to define it in terms of categories of work that statistics agencies provide data for – our key postulate here being that there is no distinct statistical measure of gig work, and that a number of types of work share its features. Hence, we operationalize gig work in terms of four highly contingent types of employment: casual work, temporary agency work, zero-hours contracts, and dependent contractors.

The following sections then examine trends in these forms of work and provide a critical analysis of the factors that have driven their growth or resurgence. In so doing, what is notable is that despite widespread claims that gig work will become the “new norm”, empirical evidence suggests that the four forms of work identified still remain as relatively minor components of the workforce in developed countries. However, this is not to down play the significance of gig work, but rather we argue that the impact of gig work on the economy is not in its direct incidence, but rather the potential impact that such forms of work can have on employment elsewhere.

Operationalizing gig work

In attempting to understand trends in gig work, it is first necessary to operationalize gig work in terms of work and employment categories that national and international statistical agencies would utilize. As such, gig work has been seen as most coterminous with the status of being a dependent contractor, in being available on-demand and generally working through one organization (as demonstrated by Uber). A narrower definition of gig work would be to specify contractors or freelancers that are sourced via the intermediary of an online platform, which is where the novelty of the gig economy as a term largely originated. This is the definition cited by De Stefano (2016), who denotes work in the gig economy as constituting both “crowd-work” (that is, where a number of firms and workers are connected via an online platform) and “on-demand work”, whereby a single user firm uses an online platform to match workers to demand for services.