6 Charts that Debunk the Gig Economy (2020)
Figure 1: Part-time workforce as percent of nonagricultural total
SOURCE: R Street analysis of BLS data
The part-time workforce continues to shrink as a share of total workers. Coming down from recession highs, there’s no evidence that the availability of gig work has coincided with an increase in the amount of part-time work.
Figure 2: Percent of part-time workers citing economic reasons
SOURCE: R Street analysis of BLS data
The number of people involuntarily working part-time has followed a similar trend, descending to levels not seen since the ‘90s boom years. If the availability of gig work has changed the nature of the labor force, it hasn’t done so by pushing people involuntarily into part-time work.
Figure 3: Involuntary part-time as percent of workforce
SOURCE: R Street analysis of BLS data
Similarly, the percentage of the workforce involuntarily working part time is barely one-third the level it was at the beginning of the last decade. Gig work hasn’t been the powerful force of labor displacement in the macroeconomy it was once purported to be.
Figure 4: Self-employed as percent of nonagricultural workforce
SOURCE: R Street analysis of BLS data
Nor has the rise of gig work caused a spike in self-employment. Rather, the percentage of people working for themselves is at a generational low point.
Figure 5: Percent of private workforce employed at firms with 1-4 employees
SOURCE: R Street analysis of BLS data
The same narrative bears out in BLS data on firm size. The percentage of firms that employ 1-4 people has been shrinking for a decade. The rise of gig labor has not been substantial enough to offset a general decline in very small businesses.
Figure 6: Percent of private workforce employed at firms with 500+ employees
SOURCE: R Street analysis of BLS data
At the same time, the percentage of the workforce working for large and very large firms has continued to grow, as it has for most of the last three decades. Gig work has not caused displacement from large firms to small firms and self-employment.
Image credit: SFIO CRACHO