Fears over gig economy exaggerated, HILDA survey finds

Claims of a dramatic rise in the number of Australians employed in the gig economy have been overblown.

Claims of the dramatic growth in the gig economy have been overblown, according to a new survey. Picture: AFP

Claims of a dramatic rise in the number of Australians employed in the gig economy have been overblown, according to the Melbourne Institute’s latest household survey, which has found the share of workers in “non-stand­ard” work hasn’t changed much since 2001.

Data from the Household, ­Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey shows that non-standard employment for both men and women declined in the lead-up to the global financial crisis­, then rose after 2008.

However, over the ­16-year per­iod to 2017, non-standard employment, which includes part-time workers, those on fixed-term and casual contracts or those engaged in temporary agency work, changed only slightly, with the share of men not in full-time work increasing from 34 per cent to 37 per cent. For women, the figure rose from 58 per cent to 61 per cent.

The figures represent a cold realit­y for Labor, after the oppos­ition campaigned fiercely in the lead-up to the May federal election — with the backing of the union movement — on tackling a claimed surge in itinerant work and employee exploitation.

Bill Shorten said he would widen the definition of employees to cover gig-economy workers, in a bid to stop employers from exploitin­g legal loopholes to classify­ employees as independent contractors, and promised to push the Fair Work Commission to increas­e the minimum wage.

The former opposition leader had also pledged a “better deal for casuals” and a crackdown on the abuse of 457-style visas, while promising his government would be “cleaning up labour hire”.

Drilling into the HILDA surveys­, data shows that while the share of Australians engaged in permanent part-time work ­rose for both men and women, the number of women employed on a casual basis fell over the ­period between 2001 and 2017.

Temporary agency work also declined from 4 per cent for men and women to 3 per cent for men and 2 per cent for women over the same period.

While the share of young ­people, aged between 15 and 24, employed in non-standard work jumped sharply, from 68 per cent to 76 per cent, it was likely due to an increasing number of Australians attending university. In 2001, almost­ half of all workers younger than 24 were full-time students. By 2017, it had risen to 54 per cent.

“There is a close link between being a full-time student and casual employment, with 65 per cent of all employed full-time students, and 74 per cent of those aged 15 to 24 years, being on casual contracts,” the HILDA survey said.

Although there has been a shift in the type of employment mid-career­ Australians are engaged in, the overall share of workers aged between 35 and 44 engaged in non-standard work “remained fairly stable” over the same period.

This was attributed to the rising qualifications held by these workers, which has sparked a reduction in casual work, offset by an ­increase in part-time work. This was mirrored by a fall in the number­ of labourers at the same time as an increase in the number of professionals and managers.

The rise of technology-based jobs, automation and disrupted industries has led to concerns that an increase in the gig economy has caused sluggish wages growth and precarious working conditions.

The Australian Bureau of Statis­tics has found an increasing number of Australians with ­“secondary” jobs, now accounting for almost 7 per cent of jobs in Australia, or nearly one million jobs, in mostly the administrative and support services, healthcare and education and training industries.

But the HILDA data aligns with recent myth-busting research by Deloitte, which found misplaced concerns about a future where technology destroys jobs and ushers insecure work.