NEW REPORT: Are Slower Payments Crippling The $1T Gig Economy?

As they say in the pizza business, when it rains, it pies. Every time it rains in San Francisco, Papa John’s has a problem. Pizza orders skyrocket, but there just isn’t enough staff to deliver the pizzas. And hiring staff is costly and time-consuming. Meanwhile, customers await deliveries…

Papa John’s solution? Hire gig workers.

And Papa John’s isn’t alone. Increasingly, companies are hiring ad hoc workers to resolve their immediate staffing needs. The trend is gaining so much steam that, in 2017, gig economy workers with access to smartphones are alone projected to account for more than $680 billion in income.

But as the demand for gig workers balloons, are current market conditions driving away talent? Eighty-one percent of gig workers today want to be paid faster, but with cash and check being predominantly used for processing payments, gig workers are left bogged down, according to the hot-off-the-presses edition of the PYMNTS.com Gig Economy Index™.

The Index also takes a deep dive into the growing demand for benefits in the gig economy and compares the demand with the size of different market verticals that actively hire gig workers.

Some other key takeaways from the latest edition of the Index:

– 47 percent of respondents receive 40 percent or more of their income from gig economy jobs.

– 27 percent of percent of gig workers support themselves through a single gig.

– 65 percent would not quit their gig for a full-time job.

The PYMNTS.com Gig Economy Index™ also features an interview with Brennan Smith, senior director of talent and community at Welocalize. PYMNTS caught up with Smith to gauge the logistics and complexities of providing real-time translation and localization services through a network of contractors and gig workers offering services in over 175 languages and 21 markets.

To download the PYMNTS.com Gig Economy Index™, please fill out the form below.

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About The Index

The PYMNTS.com Gig Economy Index™, a Hyperwallet collaboration, is designed to better understand workers in the gig economy — people who often work in short-term, ad hoc positions — who they are, what services they supply and what percentage of their overall income the gigs represent.