But the definition of work began to change with changing economic conditions and continued technological advances, and the change in the economy created a new labor force characterized by independent and contractual labor. In general, "work" is described as a full-time worker with set working hours, including benefits.
As a result, on-demand platforms based on digital technology have created jobs and employment forms that are differentiated from existing offline transactions by the level of accessibility, convenience and price competitiveness. In the 2000s, the digital transformation of the economy and industry developed rapidly due to the development of information and communication technologies such as the Internet and the popularization of smartphones. The earliest usage of the word gig in the sense of "any, usual temporary, paid job" is from a 1952 piece by Jack Kerouac about his gig as a part-time brakeman for the Southern Pacific railroad. Gig has various meanings in English, including a kind of boat and a forked spear, but it has two main, modern, informal meanings: any paid job or role, especially for a musician or a performer and any job, especially one that is temporary. In 2020, the voters in California approved 2020 California Proposition 22, which created a third worker classification whereby gig-worker-drivers are classified as contractors but get some benefits, such as minimum wage, mileage reimbursement, and others.
In many countries, the legal classification of gig workers is still being debated, with companies classifying their workers as "independent contractors", while organized labor advocates have been lobbying for them to be classified as "employees", which would legally require companies to provide the full suite of employee benefits like time-and-a-half for overtime, paid sick time, employer-provided health care, bargaining rights, and unemployment insurance, among others. Gig workers enter into formal agreements with on-demand companies to provide services to the company's clients. Gig workers are independent contractors, online platform workers, contract firm workers, on-call workers, and temporary workers. A Deliveroo cycle delivery worker in Manchester, England