From Forbes, Elaine Pofeldt discusses ways to improve the gig economy. She shares research and perspectives of leaders in the industry including Gene Zaino. Elaine writes:
Gene Zaino, CEO of MBO Partners, which provides back-office support for independent workers, expects to see new products to help free agents build economic security, such as retirement savings accounts geared toward people with unsteady incomes. He also believes novel ways of transacting businesses and taxing freelancers are on the horizon. Currently, the government has a strong disincentive to encourage freelancing, because it is easier to extract taxes from workers who are on company payrolls.
“As more of our labor is transacted outside of traditional employment, there is going to be a need for a new way to fund our social responsibilities,” says Zaino.
Right now, many voices in the debate have agendas that distract from solving the challenges of an increasingly freelance economy.
“It’s certainly an agenda for people that want to see the gig economy and freelancing as a disruptive dynamic to a lot of traditional ways of doing things,” says Zaino. “The whole venture capital scene is also invested in a lot of these platform companies. They don’t want the responsibility of employment. They would rather see government take on the responsibilities of employment and not have that as part of their platform costs.”
Read the full story at The Billion-Dollar Question: How To Fix Gig Work
