The untapped potential of the gig economy for social impact
In the past 10 years, we have witnessed the emergence and rapid growth of the gig economy with the foundation of many online tech platforms which mediate work and enable economic activity. Companies like Uber, AirBnB, TaskRabbit and Glovo are some examples of such tech platforms. The World Bank estimates 110 million people work in the gig economy globally and this number is growing exponentially. In the US alone, 36% of the workers are now involved in the gig economy. Gig economy companies (platforms) are becoming a powerful player in the global economic arena.
But as we learnt from Spiderman (or actually Voltaire as he said it first) — “with great power, comes great responsibility”… And there is no better time than now for us to embrace this responsibility and turn it into an opportunity — both a moral one whereby we can play our part in making the world a better place for all, but also a business one whereby we can capitalise on the new market paradigm in which customers, employees and even a growing number of investors care about purpose beyond simple economic gain.
The main category of work most often undertaken through the gig economy is routine tasks — cleaning, fixing things, delivering food and groceries, driving… Incidentally (or not!) these kinds of jobs are also meant to cease to exist in the next 10 to 20 years with the rapid automation of tasks. Here comes the opportunity for platforms to realise their untapped potential for social impact and in the process not only get a pat on the back for doing their part for humanity but also reap significant business benefits.
What is absolutely key for any social impact initiative driven by platform companies is to not simply improve the situation of these workers while maintaining the status quo but to also radically shift their work trajectory. In order to do this, building communities, teaching transferable skills and supporting bottom-up innovation should form the core social impact focus of platforms. The old proverb “Give a man a fish, he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime” stands correct particularly in the changing world of work (although I cannot just let the use of “man” and “he” pass without comment!).
Some (but still too few) platform companies are already sensing this responsibility and the untapped opportunities within it. The mere fact that they have direct access to tens of thousands of people (often from more vulnerable populations such as recent immigrants) is calling loud for action. Companies like Lyft and Glovo, although still at the very beginning of their social impact journeys, are starting to capture elements of their business and channel them for social good, as well as to design new impact initiatives.
At Glovo, we have just launched Glovo Citizens — a social impact campaign which will support a multitude of projects aiming to empower gig economy workers, partners and users to “learn to fish”. Glovo Citizens will provide funding, resources, guidance and technical support to any of Glovo’s stakeholders (ideally a combination of them to ensure projects are relevant and bottom up) who come up with viable, creative and impactful projects aiming to support the transition of vulnerable populations, involved in the gig economy, not only into a better life but also into sustainable future work opportunities. An example of a project which Glovo Citizens could support is a Coding Academy training gig economy workers in transferable and highly valued coding skills.
Social impact is still a rather unexplored field for the gig economy but the potential is huge. The prospect of tapping into this potential for social change gives me an incredible sense of hope, yet I am acutely aware this will require a significant and intentional focus from the entire gig business community. I am hopeful that with the leadership of companies like Glovo and the pressure of the new market paradigm, we will get there.
