Gigged

Uber. Deliveroo. Airbnb. Welcome to the gig economy. Over the past five years, digital technology has created a revolutionary new way to work - one that might just make traditional jobs obsolete. A generation of freelancers are building their working lives around small tasks sourced online: from driving taxis to cleaning houses, developing software to consulting for investment banks. They are at the front line of the gig economy. In Gigged, Sarah Kessler meets the people forging this new world of unorthodox employment: from the computer programmer who chooses exactly which hours he works each week, via the Uber driver who is trying to convince his peers to unionise, to the charity worker who thinks freelance gigs might just transform the fortunes of a declining Rust Belt town. Gigged uncovers a world of dizzying contrasts, where the best-off have unprecedented professional freedom, while the worst-off lose out on job security, holidays and benefits. It might just change the way you think about the future of work.