Dr. Martin Hash Podcast

“Contractor” has a tax definition. Businesses like to hire contractors because then they aren't responsible for the social obligations that come with hiring employees. Employers also like using contractors because there are many to choose from, they only have to use them when they need them, and if one costs more than they earn, or creates inconvenience, they don't have to use them again. There are also people who like being contractors so that they have more control over their lives. However, most people don't want to be classified as a contractor because they want someone else held responsible for their well-being. There's also an in-between employee-contractor possibility: employees getting together in a partnership then bidding their service to an employer as a contracting business. That way the employees are essentially their own employers and they can argue among themselves about personal issues: when one has a baby and needs a raise, or time off, or whatever. Plus, they could bid other jobs if they hate the boss, the pay, or the work.

There had been a gradual increase in the number of people who were considered contractors as older people got laid off and were unable to find new employment in this Part-time economy, but recently another kind of contractor emerged with the advent of the Gig-economy; for example, App-based jobs like Uber. The Gig-economy, also called the “sharing economy,” is not an employer-employee relationship because everyone is considered their own boss. This was a blessing to lots of involuntarily-retired, on-maternity-leave, flexible-schedule people, but the workers they compete with, unions and other vested interests, don't like it one bit, and, unfortunately, many Gig-economy people would rather be employees if they could force the issue somehow through politics.