The Gig Economy - The New American Hustler

Tina Brown of The Daily Beast wakes up

Now that everyone has a project-to-project freelance career, everyone is a hustler.

No one I know has a job anymore. They've got Gigs.

Gigs: a bunch of free-floating projects, consultancies, and part-time bits and pieces they try and stitch together to make what they refer to wryly as “the Nut”—the sum that allows them to hang on to the apartment, the health-care policy, the baby sitter, and the school fees.

....

A full one-third of our respondents are now working either freelance or in two jobs. And nearly one in two of them report taking on additional positions during the last six months.

Just as startling, these new alternative workers are not overwhelmingly low-income. They’re college-educated Americans who earn more than $75,000 a year.

Welcome to the age of Gigonomics...

There is a real poll: PDF

And a synopsis:

There are two kinds of new American hustlers:

• At the lower end of the salary spectrum, lower- and middle-class Americans are being stretched in ways they didn’t seek. Americans with incomes below $40,000 per year are more likely to hold multiple part-time positions, and the reason why they hold second jobs tends to be a critical financial situation: They’re behind on bills and need extra income (43%).

• At the top end, those with higher incomes and a college education are more likely to work freelance or multiple jobs as a way of expanding their scope. This upper-class population often has both a full-time job in addition to one or more part-time jobs, often freelancing. The top motivation for taking on additional work? A second job was actually a hobby that turned into a money-making operation (48%). Not surprisingly, this group is also more likely to feel stretched by their responsibilities.

Yup. Long after Unicornomics* has been settled on as a huge distraction and waste of talent and resources, there's still gonna be rasslin' over what to call the last 3 decades starting with Reaganomics and ending in Gig-o-nomics. Somehow, despite the indelible imprint of B. Boomer on the registration and paperwork, calling them the The Wonder Years 2.0 seems a longshot.

And, maybe, just maybe, there's an explanation within, and tying together, both sets of years.

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* Q: How do you buy a unicorn? A: With imaginary money. Q: How do you buy 2 unicorns? A: Declare the first unicorn and the rides you give as an asset and revenue stream for your CapitalOne card application.

daily beast link via fimoculous