CCDA 2018 The Gig Economy 2018 Evo Libri

Welcome! • Introducing myself: • Jan Johnston-Tyler, Founder of Evo. Libri Consulting in Santa Clara, providing multidisciplinary services to neurodiverse teens and adults for eleven years. • A vendor for Department of Rehabilitation in California (vocational rehab) • Certified as a Non-Public Agency with the California Department of Education (service provider to school-aged kids) • Former high tech manager and ‘visionary’ – changed careers in the 2000 s. • Majority of our work at Evo. Libri is with transition-aged youth. © 2018 Evo. Libri

What Is ‘The Gig Economy’? • Latest iteration of ‘work on demand’: • Day laborers (1850 s and beyond – post slavery and again during depression) • Temp workers (1945 and beyond – post WWII) • Independent contractors (1990 s and beyond – ‘The Bubble’) • Freelancers (aka self-employed, usually project-based – always) • No implicit or explicit contract for long-term employment • Latest twist is ‘platform-based’ – ‘service providers’ register with an online presence to be matched with people who need a service or goods (Uber, Lyft, Task. Rabbit, Care. com, Airbnb) © 2018 Evo. Libri

How Are These Different? • Day laborers – Show up and hope to get picked. Paid at the end of the day, typically in cash. No taxes withheld. • Temp workers – Usually hired through a staffing agency for a specific duration. Should always be an actual employee either of the agency or of the hiring company. Taxes withheld. W 2 employment. • Independent contractors – Usually hired directly by the company, though may be found by an agency. NOT an employee, taxes not withheld. 1099 employment. • Freelancers – Also ICs, but often in the arts (graphic artist, writer, videographer, audio editor, etc). No taxes withheld. • Gig workers – Also ICs, but more like day laborers in that you pick when you want to work. No taxes withheld. © 2018 Evo. Libri

Who Cares? (Or, who is watching? ) • The IRS: • Internships can no longer be ‘free labor’ but generally be a learning experience as part of a college education (2017) • Independent contractors are always ‘in control’ of their hours, workspace, and deliverables. Must have their own business. • Temporary workers must be ‘actual employees’ and must have taxes withheld. Must NOT have their own business. • Corporate America: • In a time of economic uncertainty post-depression, companies are still leery of investing in their workforces: “Try before you buy” contractors and temps, internships, reign supreme in many entry level professional positions. © 2018 Evo. Libri

Why Is the Gig Economy ‘a Thing’ Now? • Contingent workforce used as a way of managing uncertainty in the economy • Employers don’t want to be ‘caught’ with the burden of too many employees • Not surprisingly, the gig economy started at the end of the last economic depression – desperate workers trying to earn enough to live on, and employers not wanting to ‘invest’ in their own workforce © 2018 Evo. Libri

What is ‘Platform Employment’? • Basically, the platform company is like an agency without withholding. They create the platform, people sign up to offer services (with or without vetting) and others hire these people through the platform. • No taxes withheld, but ongoing payments, per transaction, made to the platform company. ‘Gigger’ is responsible for paying taxes on earned income. • Somewhat ‘faceless’ – often hard to find (and thus retain) the same person over and over again. Little relationship with customer; no relationship with company other than transactional. © 2018 Evo. Libri

Examples of Popular Platform Employment • Uber/Lyft • Upwork/Freelancer/Fiverr • Task. Rabbit/Handy/Takl • Care. com/Rover • Door. Dash/Grub. Hub/Instacart/Amazon Prime • And then… • Etsy • Airbnb/Home. Away © 2018 Evo. Libri

Pros and Cons of Platform Work Pros Cons Flexible No benefits On-Demand No taxes

Who Is Best Served by Platform Work? • Job seekers who wish to earn income while they look for better employment • Students who cannot work full time • Care providers who cannot work full time • Sometimes…people who have established a career and use these platforms to connect with new clients (Upwork, Care. com, etc. ) © 2018 Evo. Libri

Who Is NOT Well-Served? • Pretty much, everyone else. • These are generally not replacements for real – relational – jobs and should not be treated as such. • They are transitional…supplemental. © 2018 Evo. Libri

A Couple of “Outliers” (who can make $$) • Travelers – Medical staff (nurses, med techs) who work for large agencies and take 3 -12 month assignments throughout the country. $200 k+. Great for 20 somethings. • Consultants – Professionals with a ‘storied career’ can rebrand fire up their networks and get out there and consult. Great for gray hairs. © 2018 Evo. Libri

How Much Can You Make with Uber? • Uber drivers typically collect $24. 77 per hour in passenger fares. Uber takes $8. 33 in commissions and fees. • Vehicle expenses like gas and maintenance cost drivers about $4. 87 per hour. (More in CA!) • That leaves drivers with $11. 77 per hour, from which they pay $0. 90 in extra Social Security and Medicare taxes, because they are self-employed. • If drivers don’t pay for health insurance or contribute to a retirement plan, they can take home $10. 87 per hour. • If they do want to purchase some basic benefits, their take-home pay would come out to about $9. 21 per hour. (Less than minimum wage in CA!) (This is how much Uber drivers make, Maria La. Magna, Market. Watch, May 15, 2018) © 2018 Evo. Libri

What Are The Best Gig Jobs? • Entrepreneur, March 2018: • Deep learning, $115/hr • Blockchain, $87/hr • Robotics, $78/hr • Penetration testing, $67/hr • Bitcoin, $65/hr © 2018 Evo. Libri • AWS, Lambda, $51/hr • Virtual reality, $50/hr • React. js, $41/hr • Final Cut Pro, $37/hr • Instagram marketing, $31/hr

Um…. Those Aren’t Really Gig Jobs! • Many assume an MS or Ph. D, all but one at least a BS or equiv in Comp. Sci • All of these folks can be found on Upwork (and possibly other platforms) • More akin to contractors than giggers… • Remember, people take those jobs in-between full -time gigs, or to supplement their normal contract work…still need loads of experience. © 2018 Evo. Libri

How Can People Make It Work? • Understand the real pay • Use a calendar to commit (to yourself) the days/times you will work – and stick to it • Set aside time to continue to look for a ‘real’ job, if that is your longer-term commitment – job apps, networking, social media, education, etc. © 2018 Evo. Libri

Where Can You Find Gig Jobs? • Directly from the platform • On Indeed. com, Snagajob, etc • From agencies or agency listings (Robert Half, Adecco, etc. ) • On social media and Linked. In © 2018 Evo. Libri

Check Your Temperament • Some people are better at freelancing-type jobs than others: • Good at networking • Good at marketing • Good record-keeping, money management • Good executive functioning!! • Freelancing is about 60 -80% the job, and 20 -40% the business. • Really need a long-term plan for taxes, insurance, career development. • Freelancing CAN be a great career, but you have to do it right. © 2018 Evo. Libri

A Word on ‘Try Before You Buy’ • Many ‘non-traditional’ job seekers get in to Google, Facebook, Tesla and other local tech companies through traditional agencies such as Adecco. • These are frequently ‘specialty’ or problem-solving gigs that pay about $20 -$30/hr – the ‘secret’ is that companies are looking for diamonds in the rough that won’t make their ‘keyword cut’ • DEFINITELY apply for those jobs. If you have a good client, they may land a salaried job after six months to a year. Worst case, they have a better resume. © 2018 Evo. Libri

What Does DOR Think About This? • As recently as a year ago, DOR would not consider any of these jobs to be ‘full-time employment’ and would not endorse these types of job searches. • Recently, DOR has approved contract employment if it is at least three (and preferably more) months in length. • We all have to be flexible… © 2018 Evo. Libri

Final Thoughts… • I don’t think the employment market has really changed that much, just newer packaging and new ways to make money off of other people. • Employer-driven market is slowly changing. Millenials and Gen-Exers not happy with lack of stability, and companies are having a harder time with retention. • Old school still works – Craigslist, Nextdoor, Yelp, Linked. In can all be used for free or low-cost. © 2018 Evo. Libri