MIT Sloan Management Review Article on How Managers Can Best Support a Gig Workforce

The rise of digital giants in the gig economy has brought new scrutiny to how companies should manage contingent workers.

In the coming months, IPOs from big tech companies like Uber, Lyft, Postmates, and DoorDash won’t just draw attention and funds from investors on Wall Street. The disclosures these companies provide are likely to bring new scrutiny to how they — and, by extension, the gig economy in general — manage workers.

Already, some members of Congress are looking to step up protections for workers who try to cobble together a living through contingent and alternative arrangements. As Democratic Senator Mark Warner of Virginia said when reintroducing legislation in February, “Changes in the nature of work mean that Americans are more likely to change jobs and be engaged in nontraditional forms of work than they were a generation ago,” but federal policies have not evolved along with these economic shifts.