Wake up call; CEO's have moved on from "jobs" to a "gig".

[CK_John]

The difference of course is no payroll, no union, no minimum wage, no upkeep, no liability, and no more whining.

It is now all about percentage.

[DemocracyMouse]

1. Um.... explain?

[moondust]

2. Surplus labor

suppresses wages and benefits, which in turn boosts short-term profits. Of course no guarantees what that will do to worker dedication, quality of product/service, and long-term viability.

"You get what you pay for!"

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. The 'gig' economy - maybe it's a British phrase, but it's talked about a lot here

Rather than people being permanent, full time employees, they get paid for specific actions, eg Uber drivers, delivery drivers, zero hour contracts. A bit like performers who get paid per gig. See eg

What is the 'gig' economy? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38930048

or The Guardian's collection of articles on it: https://www.theguardian.com/business/the-gig-economy

[Wounded Bear]

6. Yeah we call it sub-contracting...

No more employees, just sub-contractors that are responsible for their own benefits.

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. Here, "sub-contractor" implies someone who owns their own business

and gets contracts, for work that probably lasts days or weeks. Large parts of the gig economy are people being paid for what they do in the next hour or two, and then having to wait around for the next thing they'll get paid for - which might turn up at once, or might be hours away.

[Wounded Bear]

9. We have those too...

they hang around the Home Depots (those that are left) and car washes, or on street corners with signs reading: Will work for food.

I think we're heading back to the 20's/30's again. Economy is still "good" so to speak, but I sense a big dip coming. It might be on the way. Unemployment may be down, but so are wages. The last recovery was successfully managed to ensure people at the bottom didn't get any of it, which leads to false prophets like Trump taking over and further looting the treasury.

Perhaps those guys who said we shouldn't have had the bailout in '08-9 were right. The RW assholes won't be satisfied until we have a Great Depression 2.0, or worse.

[Ilsa]

8. Fifteen years ago they tried calling it a "service economy."

Yeah, serving our masters at corporate headquarters, doing whatever it takes, is what the Davos billionaires have helped create. And they think they can make it all better by more tax cuts.

[Fullduplexxx]

3. Gig employee union

[crazycatlady]

5. Also gig economy workers are paid on a 1099

So they have to pay double the SS and Medicare tax.