The Gig Economy’s Political Reckoning Has Arrived: QuickTake

Around the globe, it seems like gig work, and gig workers, are everywhere: millions of people deployed, generally for piecemeal tasks, through smartphone apps created by technology startups. Companies such as Uber Technologies Inc. in the U.S. and Deliveroo Plc, based in the U.K., say the arrangement gives workers the freedom to be their own bosses and puts otherwise idle resources to use. A growing number of labor advocates say it’s exploitation in a new wrapper. Courts and legislatures are wrestling with how to fit this phenomenon into existing labor laws, or whether an entirely new approach is needed. ...