gig economy

noun

: economic activity that involves the use of temporary or freelance workers to perform jobs typically in the service sector

One reason the gig economy has taken off: People tend to change jobs more frequently and many enjoy the flexibility of choosing when and where they work.

—Marcia Pledger

While they are still able to work, boomers will be a big part of a subset of the sharing economy that is sometimes called the "gig economy." Gigs are what they sound like: assignments, contracts or part-time jobs.

—Linda Nazareth

Examples of gig economy in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Hundreds of millions of workers rely on the gig economy, such as delivering food or driving ride-share cars for their primary work. — Simone McCarthy, CNN Money, 23 Sep. 2026

The battleground here is New York City, and really the United States at large, a collective gig economy that has made the rich richer by making the poor isolated and decentralized. — Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 10 Sep. 2026

The standard guidance for working people is three to six months’ worth of living expenses in liquid reserves as an emergency buffer, and higher-income workers and contractors/gig economy workers should target an even higher cushion. — ABC News, 8 Sep. 2026

The rise of the gig economy has reset expectations around pay, with workers like Uber drivers able to access their earnings as soon as a job is completed rather than waiting until the end of a shift, Brandman said. — Kristin Stoller, Fortune, 24 Aug. 2026

Word History

Etymology

gig entry 1

First Known Use

2009, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for gig economy

• deuteronomy
• aeronomy
• agronomy
• astronomy
• autonomy
• gastronomy
• metonymy
• taxonomy