While America struggles with its fiscal frugality, there's still hope for a thriving business economy. In fact, some emerging wisdom has cropped up in the corporate world.

Diane Mulcahy's upcoming book, “The Gig Economy: The Complete Guide to Getting Better Work, Taking More Time Off, and Financing the Life You Want,” to be released in Nov. 2016, argues thatthe Gig Economy of contracting, consulting, and part-time and on-demand work, is here to stay. This new way of working is already challenging our existing labor laws. 

“The evidence seems to indicate that the DOL (Dept of Labor) will be slow moving in responding to changes in the labor market,” explained Mulcahy from her home office in Boston. “The DOL has yet to modify the labor laws to reflect how the work force is changing in the Gig Economy,” she added: “In spite of that, the gig economy continues to grow.”

Diane created and teaches an MBA course on the Gig Economy at Babson Boston, Ma., and Forbes magazine named the course one of the “Top 10 Most Innovative Business School Classes in the country.”

Mulcahy, a former venture capitalist, knows first-hand the type of independence “gig” work gives an individual. During her career, she’s been an employee a consultant and a freelancer. She has also taken plenty of time off – she spent more than two years off traveling the world.

In the past few months, the employment status of Uber drivers and others operating “ride” enterprises has highlighted the question of what benefits and protections these drivers are entitled to. These questions are being examined and debated across the nation.

It’s a hotly debated topic that centers on the issue of whether they should be considered “employees” or “independent contractors.” Yet, at the heart of this is an even further-reaching discussion: what implications does the the Gig Economy have for the rest of American workers?

The issues the Gig Economy raises are fundamental to our way of work.

They include, but are not limited to, the following:

Should “gig” workers be eligible for benefits? What protections do “gig” workers have when the performance of the job goes awry? What obligations do the companies contracting these “gig” workers have to them once the “gig” is complete? What changes will government agencies overseeing the American work force consider or perhaps better framed, actually recognize, need to be addressed within this changing dynamic?

Mulcahy believes American workers will continue to opt out of the 9 to 5 grind an into a “gig work” lifestyle that gives them the flexibility and autonomy to pursue more of their personal goals in addition to their professional ones.

“As the work force becomes more flexible and people are not tied to a full time job for decades, it will be easier to go in and out of the work force,” she said. “It opens up a lot of opportunities to be able to accomplish personal goals.”

David Weil, the head of the U.S. Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division, said like or not, the workplace is changing. And he isn’t talking about just ride-sharing. He references job training sites that traditionally ran on an eight-hour shift model with standard employment benefits and contracts.

These non-traditional work environments are “constantly cropping up in unexpected places,” he said, noting that car dealers are hiring sales people in the “gig” mode, lawyers now regularly contract paralegal help for a specific case only, medical professionals are moving from job to job following demand for their services and even shipbuilding operations are more heavily relying on specialized “gigsters” for individual projects.

For example, the hotel industry has been dependent on gig workers for a couple of decades. As franchise ownership shifted from local, independent owners to outside investors lined up with mega corporations, the outsourcing of housekeeping and maintenance duties became the norm. Efforts to gain contracts meant low-bidding on the part of local contractors seeking seasonal contracts. Many hotel workers aren’t employees of the brand they wear on their uniform. They work in a somewhat glorified “gig” job knowing that at the end of high season, their position might be gone.

And there's the cable companies which have made “gig” work their standard as well. Corey Becker, a Bostonian, said he started doing cable installation work knowing he wasn’t being paid by the hour, but by the completed task. For Becker, a quick study and a competent cable technician who didn’t have a family at the time, the “gig” was just right for him.

“But some of the other techs were slower,” he said, noting that made earning a decent wage challenging. He is convinced some of the techs he knew while working the cable “gig” were not making minimum hourly wage.

Another classic example of the gig working in full force: In the “City by the Bay,” gig workers organized the San Francisco Gig Workers Union and now seek a place at the table in various labor union negotiations. In Jacksonville, Fla., a group using the acronym wage which stands for the phrase, “Workers of the App-based Gig Economy,” run an FB page actively criticizing Uber and sharing video clips of leaders in the American labor government and industry calling “gig” work the demise of the American economy that members of the page mock. GoGig, a company in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., specializes in helping gigsters with their print and video resumes.

Meanwhile, the “gig” has a strong foothold among the nation’s younger generations for whom work isn’t necessarily defined in 9 to 5 terms. Its existence is well documented on social media platforms – especially on Facebook where “city” oriented gig pages advertise a variety of short- term, no commitment type of jobs. Gigsters across the nation are organizing into formal groups promoting their cause.

For more information about the Author Diane Mulcahy and her new book, visit: www.dianemulcahy.com
To Pre-Order, The Gig Economy: The Complete Guide to Getting Better Work, Taking More Time Off, and Financing the Life You Want, visit: www.amazon.com/