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| Story | Source |
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| US gig workers and self-employed face delays in jobless aid | Associated Press |
| After Rich Cruse saw about $3,000 in income for his photography business quickly disappear to the coronavirus, he tried to apply for unemployment benefits in California. But like many states, his isn’t yet accepting claims from the self-employed like him. Editor’s Note: | |
| CARES Act May Propel Gig Economy Employment Law Shift | Law 360 |
| In 2019, California enacted A.B. 5, a controversial law designed to make it more difficult for businesses to classify workers — including those providing services in the gig economy — as independent contractors. Editor’s Note: | |
| Sex Work Comes Home | The New York Times |
| More of us are making and watching sexual performances online now. Fewer of us are paying. Editor’s Note: | |
| Airbnb’s $1 billion bargain is a sign of things to come | Bloomberg |
| On Monday, Airbnb Inc. announced it had raised $1 billion in debt and equity securities from Silver Lake, the tech buyout giant, and Sixth Street Partners. Editor’s Note: | |
| SC’s contractors and self-employed anxiously await expansion of unemployment benefits | The Post and Courier |
| The tourists departed. The hotels emptied. The bustling bars along King Street fell quiet. And with that activity went nearly all of John Holland’s income. Editor’s Note: | |
| Uber now delivers groceries, Zoomcar eases emergency travel during COVID-19 lockdown | Indian Express |
| To ease the delivery of daily essentials here are some companies that have collaborated with grocery suppliers and food delivery services to supply and deliver orders in less time. Editor’s Note: | |
| How JobKeeper will change your work | News.com.au |
| The $1500-a-fortnight JobKeeper package announced by the Federal Government will be approved by parliament today as the nation scrambles to soften the economic blow caused by COVID-19. Editor’s Note: | |
| Freelance Work Has Always Been Precarious, Not Aspirational. Coronavirus Has Made That Clear. | Novara Media |
| Louise Dean has never worked on a farm before. A trained hairdresser, she’s more used to foils and fringes than planting or picking vegetables. Editor’s Note: The ongoing transition towards freelancing and short-term gigs has been lauded by many, though opposition has gathered steam amid the pandemic. Here Sophie McKay looks back at the way things have changed over the last decade | |
| In a time of crisis, can digital technology save globalization? | ZDNet |
| Ever since I picked up a copy of Thomas Friedman’s The Lexus and the Olive Tree nearly 20 years ago, I’ve been convinced that globalization is here to stay. But the idea has been under fire recently, blamed for everything from job loss to income inequality to immigration — a backlash that has flared up before (think Brexit or other previous nationalist-type movements) but is now raging with the coronavirus and the fears that come with seeing supply chains seize up, public events canceled, and governments move to close borders and restrict travel. Editor’s Note: | |
| Digital Tsunami: Healing the workplace with trust | The Hindu Business Line |
| On March 24, 2020, the world of work changed in our country. The 21-day lockdown started in India. Since then, I have heard of virtual job interviews, virtual farewells and virtual lay-offs. Even virtual funerals and weddings. Editor’s Note: | |
| Trump’s Labor Department Fights to Protect Workers From Benefits | NY Mag |
| Weeks after Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 election, the president-elect’s economic adviser Stephen Moore delivered some tough news to House Republicans: “Just as Reagan converted the GOP into a conservative party, Trump has converted the GOP into a populist, working-class party.” Editor’s Note: | |
| Airbnb’s Coronavirus Crisis: Burning Cash, Angry Hosts and an Uncertain Future | WSJ ($) |
| Everything was supposed to come together for Airbnb in 2020. Editor’s Note: | |
| Think as one aboard one mothership | New Straits Times |
| It is rather puzzling the fury of some critics railing against the government’s Prihatin Rakyat stimulus package announced by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin. Editor’s Note: Malaysia has announced various measures in order to keep the economy going during the COVID-19 crisis. John Teo wonders whether freelancers stand to benefit enough. | |
| Generation C Has Nowhere to Turn | The Atlantic |
| When Ananay Arora looks off his balcony, he doesn’t see much these days. From his high-rise apartment, which he shared with three roommates before one of them moved back to Taiwan a few weeks ago, he has a view of Arizona State University’s campus, where Arora is currently a sophomore majoring in computer science. Editor’s Note: | |
| Coronavirus in the US: Jobless claims report Thursday could hit 7 million or higher | Associated Press |
| WASHINGTON — The government is set to report another shocking level of unemployment claims Thursday even after nearly 10 million people applied for benefits in the previous two weeks because of business shutdowns from the coronavirus. The number will likely keep increasing, in part because many states are still clearing out backlogs of applications for unemployment aid. And with more companies running through their cash cushions as the virus-related shutdowns persist, they are resorting to layoffs to save money. Editor’s Note: | |
| I don’t need my $1,200 stimulus check right now, so I’m spending it in 2 ways to invest in my future self | Business Insider |
| With the passage of the coronavirus stimulus package at the end of March, but the money not yet in the hands of individual Americans, now is the perfect time to decide how to use your stimulus check. Editor’s Note: | |
| America’s Social Safety Net Wasn’t Ready For The Coronavirus Crisis | FiveThirtyEight |
| The coronavirus crisis is testing almost every facet of American life, including the country’s social safety net. For generations politicians have proposed (and haggled over) ways to help people during a garden-variety recession. And in the past few weeks, Congress has tried to strengthen the safeguards that already exist, passing a series of bills to get government assistance and other protections to more people, including a $2 trillion relief package with several provisions that directly affect workers and small businesses. Editor’s Note: | |
| Schafer: Supportive communities are a strength, and working from home on video can’t last | Star Tribune |
| When you think about it, the supportive communities of elder care centers can be thought of as a metaphor for healthy neighborhoods, towns, cities and workplaces. Editor’s Note: Part of what has been affected by COVID is not just the work that we do, but the way it is done. Here Lee Schafer writes from Minnesota about co-working spaces and what’s been lost through teleworking. | |
| The ‘DoorDash’ for Leftover Food Takes Flight Amid New York Lockdown | Ozy |
| On weekday mornings, Neftaly Gonzalez hops off his electric cargo bike to pick up food from a Dig Inn location, a fast-casual restaurant, in Manhattan’s Financial District. A manager lets the 28-year-old courier inside and hands him large aluminum trays of prepared food, refrigerated from the night before. Editor’s Note: | |
| IR35 delay: further clarity needed for Britain’s entrepreneurs and contractors | Tech Radar |
| Just a couple of months ago, it seemed almost certain that the much-debated changes to IR35 would come into force, and the government seemed adamant that there would be no backtracking. This was before the advent of an unprecedented pandemic, which has forced thousands of businesses around the world into financial strain and uncertainty. Editor’s Note: | |
| This Pandemic Is a ‘Fork in the Road’ for Gig Worker Benefits | WIRED |
| As Covid-19 keeps people indoors, delivery and other contract workers are more visible than ever—making this a pivotal time for them to secure basic rights. Editor’s Note: | |
| Can Gig Work Nix Jobless Pay? Pennsylvania Justices to Decide | Bloomberg Law |
| The Pennsylvania Supreme Court is poised to decide whether driving for Uber disqualified an out-of-work behavioral therapist for unemployment insurance, which could have major ramifications for workers turning to the gig economy after coronavirus-driven job losses. Editor’s Note: | |
| The Office celebrates a work life that doesn’t exist anymore | The Verge |
| The scenes that make The Office special aren’t overly zany but are extremely relatable, like Dwight Schrute making an obnoxious sales call at his desk, while Jim and Pam roll their eyes at their colleague’s behavior. It happens almost every episode: two people, the stand-ins for the audience, acknowledging just how annoying the workplace is. Editor’s Note: | |
| ‘Gig economy’ workers fall on hard times in Singapore and Australia | Nikkei |
| SINGAPORE — Nicholas Yeo did not expect such a rocky start to his first year as a full-time freelance photographer. The 26-year-old graduate of Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University counted it a blessing that his passion for taking pictures was also his livelihood. Now he doesn’t feel so lucky. As the new coronavirus swept the globe, he saw more and more work dry up as events were canceled or postponed for health and safety reasons. Editor’s Note: | |
| Tennis players, gig workers of the sports world, hope coronavirus crisis spurs change | The Globe and Mail |
| But with the glamour that attends the world of professional sports, fans may not realize those tough times extend to athletes such as Pospisil and his fellow Canadian tennis players. Many people who play sports for a living – especially the unionized millionaires in the NHL, NBA and pro soccer – are still getting paycheques. But tennis players are essentially gig workers: With prize money from tournaments as their only source of income, most have seen their earnings drop away to nothing. Editor’s Note: | |
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