No more familiar faces at the checkout? Why stores are hiring gig workers.
“The demand that we’re seeing for outsourced work, meaning gig work, is easily 10 times what it was pre-Covid across household name companies,” one expert said.
Read in NBC News: https://apple.news/AMPZI8-UORwuve1jtzF4P_Q
Shared from Apple News
Sent from my iPad,Hugs and Best wishes,
Scottie
Scottie's Playtime 
What’s your take on this, Scottie? I tend to see it as a positive, but perhaps I’m missing something.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is bad for most workers. First no more benefits. No 40 hour weeks so … Then there is the idea of odd hours when the employer needs you, so that means you work no set hours. You cannot schedule your life because your work schedule changes daily. You end up trying to juggle several jobs at the same time to get a full work week to afford to live. When James moved in with us the first time he was working for Bed, Bath, and beyond and he was a gig worker. It was horrible. He had to kiss this one persons butt or his hours were cut. He never knew when he was going to work or for how many hours even if they scheduled him they could change it with little or no notice. Like I said it is great for employers that have different busy times and may need a worker for only a few hours, but it sucks to be a worker trying to live on that.
The real solution is a UBI for everyone that people can live decently on and then those who want or need more can do this gig work. In reality there is not going to be enough jobs for everyone and those jobs will not pay enough to live. It was part of what Andrew Yang ran on. The fact is more and more jobs have disappeared because of automation. Not only self check at store and robot manufacture workers, but even ordering food at restaurants. it ahs been standard here for a while that all fast food places have kiosks to order from then you go get your meal. Some restaurants here have menu pads at the table to order and pay at such as Chilis. I heard on a podcast today that some restaurants have gotten rid of menus and you have to scan a QR code with your phone to open a menu to order from. So what will end up happening is what is happening now. People will time share jobs. Some people will work a couple days a week or a few hours a day. I might have the same job as you and we alternate days. most developed countries over seas are going to a 4 day work week, at most 36 hours is a full week. But for that system to work it needs people to be able to live on lower hours comfortably enough that they are not desperate and have security. That is not how the current system is in the US. You seen how the red state governor cut all the unemployment benefits off early trying to force people to return to unsafe working conditions because they had no money for food or rent. I have often posted on how the corporations in the US want to prevent the workers, the public from getting any help from the government. The idea is to keep people so desperate they will accept any job at any wage in any conditions. The days of the robber barons.
I am off to bed. Have a great night.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Long ago I came across a writer’s prediction that robots would one day assume the jobs of people. While there may not be actual mechanical creatures behind the counter, the methods you mentioned are good examples of the automation that’s increasing practically daily.
I do think there are some positions that will never be automated, but then again … who would have thought some 50 years ago that we would be where we are today?
It does seem that the gig system might work for some people … but obviously, not everyone.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hello Nan. What has shocked me is what is being done with robots in countries like Japan. The inovated ways that robots can be startling until you get use to the idea. I admit that living with many elderly that have had to give up their driving I long for self driving vehicals. I think often of the Jetsons cartoons. Tech was suposse to make life easier for peopel in their daily lives, people were not going to need to work much but would have more time for fun and lesiure. As for the gig worker, it can be good for someone that needs a short scedule where they must be home at certin times, like a single parent with no childcare. But again for it to work the person must have an income that provides the basics and the gig work is to give them something more. Liek in the 1950’s the man worked and made the income for everything, the woman may have had a small gig doing something a few hours a week for mad money. But those times fell victim to the greed of large employers.
LikeLiked by 1 person