Motivations for Gig Work in Canada
The following blog post is the final of a series of three blog posts that accompany research into the nature of gig work in Canada. With the support of FSC, the authors are undertaking primary and secondary research to characterize the nature and motivations of this growing workforce, as well as the socio-economic context and constraints that may affect gig workers in Canada. The research objective is to help inform the collective understanding of and consequently help build toward targeted policy for the Canadian gig workforce.
Context
The results from our previous survey indicate that roughly 21% of the Canadian labour force had engaged in gig work over the previous 12 months. To better understand why people engage in gig work as well as the work conditions and barriers they face, we commissioned Ipsos Reid (‘Ipsos’) to conduct a follow-up survey specifically tailored to gig workers. The survey was completed in September 2022 and covered a sample size of 1,000 gig workers across Canada.
Key Takeaways
Almost 70% of people mainly engage in gig work to earn additional income, 29% of whom state that their main income is insufficient.
For around 18%, gig work is their preferred choice and main source of income.
For 14%, gig work is their main source of income but they would rather become regular employees.
Almost 50% of gig workers have a net annual household income below $55k.
Almost two-thirds of gig workers identify as ‘White’.
Almost half of gig workers are in the age range of 18 to 34 years.
Almost one-third of gig workers cite ‘low pay’ as most problematic about gig work.
One-third of gig workers face irregular hours.
Almost 60% of gig workers value flexible hours.
Introduction
The reasons and motivations for gig work vary among participants, as do working conditions, available support and earnings. To account for this, the World Economic Forum (‘WEF’) distinguishes the motivation for gig work by four main categories:
Free agents: In this instance gig work is an individual’s preferred choice and their primary source of income.
Casual earners: This category refers to those for whom gig work is a personal choice and the resulting income provides supplemental income.
Reluctants: For this group, gig work is conducted out of necessity and is the primary source of income.
Financially strapped: This group participates in gig work out of necessity in order to supplement an insufficient main source of income.
Reaching a better understanding of the motivations for gig work and the barriers and working conditions each of these groups face can help decision-makers improve support to gig workers by better targeting policies to the specific needs of each group. The empirical findings presented here shed further light on the composition of gig work by motivation and provide more information on the barriers and working conditions of gig workers in Canada.
The Demography of Gig Work in Canada
Data from our previous survey suggested that in Canada, slightly more men than women engage in gig work. This is confirmed by our tailored survey of among 1,000 gig workers in the country. As Figure 1 shows, 55% of respondents are male, 43% female, and 1% another gender.
Figure 1: Gig Work by Gender.
The data also confirm earlier findings that younger people are more likely to engage in gig work. As Figure 2 illustrates, the share of gig workers of people aged 25 to 34 is 24%, closely followed by the youngest age cohort of 18 to 24 years at 23%. At 21%, the third largest group are 35 to 44-year olds. In other words, the combined age cohort of 18 to 44 years constitutes almost 70% of the gig workforce in Canada.
The core working age group, defined by Statistics Canada as 25 to 54 years old, makes up 60% of gig workers in this study, whereas in contrast, people aged 55+ total just 17%.
Figure 2: Canadian Gig Workers by Age Cohort.
We also asked gig workers in Canada about the highest degree or level of schooling they completed. Figure 3 shows that almost one third of gig workers (27%) graduated high school, 16% hold an undergraduate university degree and another 16% completed college or trade school (note: people currently enrolled in an educational program were asked to select the previous grade or highest degree achieved).
This, coupled with the finding that there is a higher share of gig workers among younger age cohorts could indicate that a significant number of them are currently enrolled in education. This assumption is based on the fact that 47% of gig workers state that gig work is their primary source of income, while 53% indicate that they have another job and that they use gig work as a secondary source of income.
Figure 3: Gig Work by Educational Attainment.
With regard to household income, the largest share of gig workers (29%) report a net annual income between $25,000 and just under $55,000, followed by those with an annual net household income below $25,000 at 20%. In other words, the share of gig workers with a total net household income below $55,000 is almost 50%. In comparison, for 2020 the total median income in Canada was $40,630.
Figure 4: Net Household Income of Gig Workers.
Our tailored survey also allows us to say something about composition of gig work by race and resident status.
Figure 5 shows that most gig workers in Canada are either Canadian citizens (79%) or permanent residents (13%). A small share of 4% are on a student visa.
Figure 5: Gig Work by Resident Status.
Finally, in Figure 6 we present the racial group composition of gig workers in Canada. Almost two-thirds (65%) of respondents identify as White, followed by South Asian and Black respondents, each of which make up 7% of gig workers.
Figure 6: Composition of Gig Work by Race.
Motivation for Gig Work in Canada
As mentioned earlier, the main goal for conducting a targeted survey among gig workers in Canada was to find out why people engage in gig work. The World Economic Forum (‘WEF’) applies a helpful framework to distinguish motivations and uses the following four groups.
Free agents, where in this instance gig work is an individual’s preferred choice and their primary source of income.
Casual earners, which refers to those for whom gig work is a personal choice and the resulting income provides supplemental income.
Reluctants, where for this group, gig work is conducted out of necessity and is the primary source of income.
Financially strapped, a group which participates in gig work out of necessity in order to supplement an insufficient main source of income.
In adopting this framework, we included the following question in our survey: ‘What is your main reason for doing/providing gig work?’ Participants could choose among the following answers.
It is my preferred choice as a main source of income
It is a personal choice to earn additional income
It is my main source of income, but I would rather become a regular employee
To earn additional income because my main income is insufficient
Subsequently, we interpret people in Category 1 to be ‘Free agents’ as gig work is a preferred choice, people in Category 2 to be ‘Casual earners’ as gig work offers additional income, people in Category 3 to be ‘Reluctants’ as these people would rather be employed, and people in Category 4 to be ‘Financially strapped’ as gig work provides necessary additional income. While we recognize that these categories are relatively broad, they provide a useful starting point to determining the varied context for why Canadians engage in gig work.
Applying these categories to the Canadian context indicates that 40% of gig workers are casual earners, 29% are financially strapped, 18% are free agents and 14% are reluctants (see Figure 7). Put differently, almost 70% of people engage in gig work to earn additional income, 29% of whom state that their main income is insufficient (financially strapped).
Figure 7: Motivation for Gig Work in Canada.
Type of Gig Work
We also asked survey participants how they commonly obtain gig work. As Figure 8 shows, the great majority of gig workers surveyed (66%) obtain work via an app or an online platform, then followed by those who get work through word of mouth (10%).
Figure 8: How Gig Work is obtained.
Gig work varies considerably by type of work. As illustrated in Figure 9, around 13% of gig workers conduct food delivery services, followed by house cleaning (11%), pet sitting (10%) and freelance consulting (10%). Somewhat surprisingly, only 4% of gig workers are rideshare drivers.
Figure 9: Gig Workers by Type of Gig Work.
Barriers and Work Conditions
A main focus of our research is on the barriers gig workers might struggle with and the work conditions they face.
To address the former, we asked respondents what areas they find problematic in their work, and listed options such as poor working conditions, low pay, lack of protections and other potential barriers typically associated with gig work as derived from the literature. The answers to the survey options provided are depicted in Figure 10. About one-third (31%) of gig workers indicate low pay as problematic, followed by lack of unemployment protection (23%), lack of retirement benefits (23%) and competition (22%).
The latter is also highlighted as problematic in a recent International Labour Organization (2021) report, specifically with regard to digital labour platforms where excess labour supply results in greater competition and downward pressure on wages. Moreover, high competition among gig workers can force people to work extra-long hours with detrimental health outcomes (Bunjak et al., 2021).
Interestingly, poor working conditions appear to be less of a problem for gig workers overall however this is likely to vary by the type of gig work.
Figure 10: Barriers in Gig Work.
To get a sense of working conditions in Canada’s gig economy, we asked gig workers about conditions that could be specific to gig work, such as irregular hours, deadlines and remote work, among other areas. Survey responses are depicted in Figure 11. From the survey categories provided, one-third of gig workers encounter irregular hours, for 19% tight deadlines are a feature in their work and 18% state that they face anti-social hours.
Figure 11: Working Conditions in Gig Work.
Positive Aspects of Gig Work
We were also curious to see which positive aspects people find in gig work. To this end, we included a question that provided options for benefits from gig work, such as flexibility, enjoyment of work and autonomy.
Of the survey options provided, Figure 12 indicates that flexibility is seen as a considerable advantage. Almost 60% of gig workers surveyed enjoy the fact that gig work offers flexible hours. A sizable share also values the ability to choose when to work and to work as much as they want. Nearly half of all gig workers surveyed (46%) indicated they enjoy the type of work they are doing.
Figure 12: Positive Aspects of Gig Work.
Next Steps
The overview presented here allows some preliminary conclusions to the motivations for gig work in Canada, as well as some initial insights on barriers and work conditions Canadian gig workers may experience. A general alignment with the WEF gig worker categories also provides a rudimentary understanding of how the Canadian gig worker demographic ‘stacks up’ against this critical contextual framing of why people are engaged in gig work.
Over the following weeks, we will dig deeper into the data and cross-tabulate to draw more specific conclusions about the type of gig work conducted in each of the four gig work categories and the associated respondent profile. This will enable us to assess which barriers and working conditions gig workers in each of these categories face and help inform relevant insights for future policy relevant to this rapidly growing part of the labour force. We aim to issue the final synthesis report in January 2023, with the support of the Future Skills Centre.
References
Bunjak, A., Černe, M. and Popovič, A., 2021. Absorbed in technology but digitally overloaded: Interplay effects on gig workers’ burnout and creativity. Information & Management, 58(8), p.103533.
International Labour Organization. 2021. World Employment and Social Outlook, The role of digital labour platforms in transforming the world of work.
Total Median Income in Canada obtained from: Statistics Canada, Table 11-10-0008-01.