I understand the desire to treat people well but I think the W-2 model doesn’t necessarily do that. Few companies treat their employees well. Indeed, two statistics I saw were the average tenure at a job is 18 months and less than half of employees feel engaged at work . If those are true, there isn’t much career advancement anyways. Further, people are attracted to the freelance, 1099 model because they want more flexibility than many companies are willing to provide at this time.

I agree with Simon Rothman; we need a new category.

Additionally, I know many employers who want more flexibility than the W-2 model provides for them. Hence they are resorting to the 1099 model as well. Some do it to avoid taxes but most seem to do it for the flexibility.

My perception is both the W-2 and 1099 categories are so flawed but the 1099 category is the least bad of the 2 so people are choosing that route. Hence the reason I believe we need a new category.