In their article 'Exploding myths about the gig economy' (VoxEU, 28 November 2016), Jacques Bughin and Jan Mischke highlight and discuss the importance of the rising phenomenon ‘gig economy’. The writers refer that some studies emphasize on the role and the significance of the ‘gig economy’ whereas others downplay the role of 'gig economy'.

So, what is the 'gig economy'?

According to the Cambridge English Dictionary the gig economy is “a way of working that is based on people having temporary jobs or doing separate pieces of work, each paid separately, rather than working for an employer”.

So the ‘gig economy’ refers to the new part of economy which depends on the independent workforce instead of traditional economy who depends on the large company.

I think if we would like to understand and evaluate the role of "gig economy”, we should compare between the positive and negative aspects of "traditional economy” and "gig economy”.

The traditional economy depends on the large company where the work forces depend on their employer as the only source for their income and they have long-term commitments towards the employers. The work forces in the traditional economy get permanent income and package of benefits such as: sick pay, retirement, rewards, etc.

With respect to "gig economy" the work forces are independent, and their works depends on achieving specific tasks, their commitments towards the clients are temporary and relate to fulfill the tasks. Thus the workforce in the "gig economy" will not get perks as the employees in the traditional type. On other hand, the "gig economy” provides many features to the independent work forces such as flexibility, autonomy and self-employment. Thus they have the ability to earn more when they work more. The "gig economy” supports the policy "Do not put all your eggs in one basket" because the employee here does not depend on one employer as the only source for his income.

I think also the traditional economy has got many benefits from the "gig economy".  The large companies in the traditional economy hire the independent work forces for specific tasks for specific time to avoid the high cost in the case of permanent employees. 

So I think the large companies should support the independent employees through many ways such as raising their experiences through free training courses or encourage them by giving them rewards. Thus, I would say the relation between the gig economy and traditional economy does not base on the competition, but in contrast each of them depends on the other part.