John T. Fleming - Ultimate Gig: Flexibility, Freedom, Rewards

Flexibility, Freedom, Rewards

BY

JOHN T. FLEMING

Ideas & Design Group, USA

WITH

LAUREN LAWLEY HEAD

Lawley Head Media, USA

United Kingdom North America Japan

India Malaysia China

Emerald Publishing Limited

Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, UK

First edition 2021

Copyright 2021 John T. Fleming

Published under exclusive licence by Emerald Publishing Limited

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-83982-861-4 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-83982-860-7 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-83982-862-1 (Epub)

Author John T. Fleming

Editor Lauren Lawley Head

August 27, 2020

Context: The gig economy has become a popular subject in mature markets throughout the world, especially the United States. The words were even used by the United States Congress when recently addressing the different classification of workers impacted by COVID-19. The gig economy has become a new phenomenon attracting record numbers of people to the possibility of part-time work or work that offers flexibility in how and where the work is being done. Some gig workers turn gigs into a preferred way of earning full-time income.

Gigs are not new. Part-time work has always been a possibility for those who sought incremental work opportunities. What is different about the gig economy is its innovative use of technology in connecting gig workers with a source of product, service, or client, and a consumer who is interested in making a purchase. Many gig workers now find technology to be the enabler in turning underutilized assets such as homes, rooms, and cars into income-earning opportunities. The choices in how we work, when we work, and where we work from have never been greater!

Information relative to the gig economy, the definitions and understanding of gig economy, motivations for working a gig, selecting a gig, and working a gig can be difficult to find; therefore, Ultimate Gig can help to eliminate misunderstanding and confusion when seeking to better understand the gig economy.

This book is about better understanding the gig economy conversation. It is also about understanding one of the most significant labor revolutions in the past 100 years as to how work can be done. Ultimate Gig is about the value of microentrepreneurship and putting entrepreneurship tools into the hands of the masses, the crowd. This book will inspire, inform, and educate. It will help gig workers and potential gig workers better understand the incredible value of new choices that allow anyone regardless of age or walk of life and irrespective of experience or inexperience opportunities to leverage time and convert hours into meaningful and fulfilling work in a flexible manner.

Today, people of all ages and from all walks of life find it possible to work in a new way. They are independent contractors using various labels to describe their approach to working when they wish and, often, from wherever they choose. These are not contractors filling typical job functions. We are referring to a new breed of workers.

Ultimate Gig is about the millions of people (approximately 60 million in the United States alone) who have embraced a new way of working. Perhaps more so than any other type of worker, gig workers have decided to bet on themselves. Gig workers understand that their success will depend on the quality of the service and products they provide to others.

We dedicate this book to the gig-providing companies and their founders who envisioned work differently, and to the new army of microentrepreneurs who bring positive change to their personal lives and the lives of those they serve.