2018 will be a crucial year for the gig economy in the UK. Only a couple of months ago, the work and pensions, and the business, energy, and industrial strategy committees of the House of Commons jointly presented a new framework for modern employment. This latest report adds to an already wide-ranging set of proposals from different stakeholders on how the gig economy should be reformed. The big question now is whether and how Government will respond.
Yet alongside any possible government action, several ongoing high-profile legal cases are bound to have a significant impact. The antagonism inherent to the court room has pitted platforms against workers, and created a polarised version of the gig economy as a zero-sum game, in which only one side can win at the expense of the other. This, in turn, is influencing the wider policy debate, with proponents of reform struggling to agree on a balanced and effective way forward.
For the gig economy to thrive in 2018 and beyond, this polarisation must end.
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