As digital platforms like Uber, Lyft and Airbnb gained steam in recent years, work changed for hundreds for people in Pittsburgh.
When ride-sharing platforms first launched here in 2014, the number of people identifying themselves as independent contractors nearly doubled, according to a Brookings Institution report released Thursday. The study takes the most recent stab at measuring the size and scope of the so-called gig economy — an umbrella term encompassing individuals earning income by freelancing or contracting with businesses.
Although notoriously difficult for researchers to measure, that segment of the workforce is becoming more important, economists say, as government officials try to craft regulations that toe the line between fostering and hindering gig-related companies.
“We’re sort of flying without a radar,” said Mark Muro, the senior fellow and policy director for Brookings’ Metropolitan Policy Program. “We’re talking about relatively modest-sized industries that are undergoing big change and fast growth.”
Mr. Muro, who co-authored the study along with Brookings nonresident senior fellow Ian Hathaway, gleaned insight from obscure Census Bureau data that track the activity of “nonemployer firms,” or proprietors earning at least $1,000 annually but employ no workers.
By linking this data to industry codes assigned by the U.S. Department of Labor, the researchers could analyze trends with the “nonemployer firms” in sectors that provide passenger ground transportation and travel accommodations from 2012 to 2014.
Turns out, nearly all of these “firms” were freelancers and independent contractors — most likely, working for digital platforms like Uber, Lyft and Airbnb.
“Our test makes it clear that this method and this indicator worked pretty well,” Mr. Muro said.
The study’s broad takeaway was that these gig workers, while representing only 3 percent of the U.S. economy, are rapidly gaining share in the transportation and travel industries. And Pittsburgh was among the top cities for growth, particularly when compared to traditional payrolls in those sectors.
Even though it was early for ride-sharing in 2014, gig workers giving rides here grew by 85 percent, according to the study. Meanwhile, the number of Pittsburghers helping visitors find available rooms rose 12 percent.
Mr. Muro speculated that, when fresh data rolls in for 2015 and 2016, it’s likely that Pittsburgh could see a doubling of gig workers in each year — a trend seen in West Coast cities that adopted the digital platforms earlier.
In addition to showing that growth, the Brookings study seems to refute the belief that the gig economy is driving traditional business competitors out of business. During the years studied, employment with traditional passenger transportation companies — including public transportation, taxi cabs, limousines — dipped 5 percent. Payrolls with travel accommodation firms stayed flat.
“Their study is another data point” as researchers try to piece together ways to think about gig work, said Steven Hill, a San Francisco-based commentator and author of a book on working in these kinds of jobs.
He said that meaningful statistics today are incomplete, leaving out people who are traditionally employed at multiple part-time jobs and also those who don’t properly report their working with digital platforms.
“They do eight hours for Uber, they don’t see it as a job, but just a way to make extra money,” Mr. Hill said. “We’re used to putting people into boxes, but now those boxes are becoming extremely fluid.”
Mr. Muro acknowledged that the study could not account for workers who use platforms like TaskRabbit, which connects people to a variety of small jobs, because those gig workers would span numerous industry sectors.
He cautioned that the Brookings study is an early picture, but one that dovetails with other research in showing that workers, following the Great Recession, are flocking to gigs in ways not seen before.
“I think the data provide an early look into what will be extremely complicated and interesting transformation in the labor market and the way people work,” Mr. Muro said.
Uber estimates that currently 20,000 people Pennsylvanians have given rides — more than 4,000 of those work around Pittsburgh. The company has been pressing state lawmakers to pass legislation that would grant permanent authority to operate in Pennsylvania.
Daniel Moore: dmoore@post-gazette.com, 412-263-2743 and Twitter @PGdanielmoore.
First Published: October 14, 2016, 4:00 a.m.
