The Global Gig Worker’s Payment Satisfaction Roadmap

In the digital economy, geographical and physical borders are no longer barriers to employment. The doors to opportunity are wide open for anyone willing and able to join the global economy. A graphic designer in Brazil, for example, can find work designing a logo for a firm in the United States. A translator in Italy can provide services for an employer based in Canada.

Finding these connections will become increasingly important by 2030, as companies worldwide face a shortage of skilled workers while they try to fill vacancies. By some accounts, companies could fall short by 8.52 million workers for open positions, a gap that puts roughly $8.45 trillion in annual revenue at risk.

However, as companies seek to hire talent overseas, they are facing friction in the cross-border payments process. Employers want to make payments in their local currencies, and workers want to get paid in their own. At the same time, if a payment is delayed, or if its value is chipped away by fees and conversion rates, it can damage employer-employee relationships and deter workers from participating in the gig economy at all.

Disbursement platforms could alleviate some of these problems by offering greater flexibility in how employers issue payments, and how workers receive them. The Cross-Border Gig Disbursements Playbook, a collaboration with disbursement solutions provider TransCard, seeks to explore the factors fueling global gig economy growth, and the different payment solutions that could streamline payments and encourage talent to take on additional work.

The Playbook also highlights the rise of popular payment methods — including PayPal, direct deposit, card-based solutions and disbursement platforms — for easing the most pressing gig worker payment pains.

Companies are learning there is no one-size-fits-all approach to delivering payments to gig workers in different markets. For example, direct deposit might not be a viable option for the 1.7 billion adults worldwide who are unbanked. Opportunities to retain global gig workers are also limited, as roughly 74 percent of workers said they would abandon a platform if they experienced payment issues.

Check out the Playbook for more on how the global gig economy is changing, and how disbursement platforms could address the impending 8.52 million talent shortage.

About the Playbook

The Cross-Border Gig Disbursements Playbook, a collaboration between PYMNTS and disbursement solutions provider TransCard, examines the current state of the gig economy, and highlights how disbursement platforms could provide greater flexibility to both employers and gig workers for delivering payments across borders.