The Gig Economy

摘要

Here is some good news: In general, the economy is improving. In the fall of 2016, the unemployment rate in the United States was at 5% and wages were rising ("Employment Situation Summary," Bureau of Labor Statistics, Oct. 7 2016; bls.govews.release/empsit.nrO. htm). This is way down from October 2009, the height of the recession, when unemployment peaked at 10% (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, "BLS Spotlight on Statistics the Recession of 2007-2009," February 2012; bls.gov/spotlight/2012/reces sion). Still, 7.9 million Americans remain unemployed, and 5.9 million work part-time because they can't find full-time jobs. In my work as a public librarian, I see some of these folks every day clicking away on our public internet access computers. As these patrons obviously do not have full-time employment, it makes me wonder if they would welcome some help from us to find, if not a full-time job, at least some paying work on a freelance basis, getting them out of our chairs and into the "gig economy."