Working in America: The Future of Work in the Sharing Economy
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Access to Data is Key
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Empowering Workers
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Mitigating Risk
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About the Event
The sharing economy has gained traction and attention in the last few years. Also known as the “gig economy,” “consumer-to-consumer sharing,” and “peer-to-peer marketplaces,” the term “sharing economy” is used to describe a wide variety of exchanges between people, including property, skills, labor, or space. By using an online platform to connect users and providers, this system puts a modern spin on old-fashioned bartering, swapping, borrowing, and trading — and greatly expands the scope and scale of potential exchanges.
Sharing economy companies include Airbnb (rent a room or your house), Uber (provide rides), TaskRabbit (do chores for others), and Instacart (be a personal grocery shopper), to name a few. There were an estimated 80 million sharers in the United States in 2013 – although that included 33 million “resharers,” those who buy and/or sell pre-owned goods online at sites like Craigslist (Vision Critical and Crowd Companies).
Revenue estimates vary from $3.5 billion in the U.S. in 2013 (Forbes) to $335 billion globally in 2025 (PricewaterhouseCoopers). Many have touted this system’s benefits for consumers, including convenient and affordable services and shared goods. But what are the benefits — and the downsides — of the sharing economy for the workers who provide the services? What is the influence of the sharing economy on the future of work? What are the implications for public policy and business practice?
Panelists explored these issues and more.
Featured speakers
Shelby Clark
Executive director, Peers
Sarah Kessler
Reporter, Fast Company
Wingham Rowan
Director, Beyond Jobs
Steven Strauss
Visiting professor, Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University
Moderater
Catherine Rampell
Opinion writer, The Washington Post
Related resources
Fact Sheet on The Future of Work in the Sharing Economy
Catherine Rampell: What preschoolers can teach Silicon Valley about “sharing”
By Catherine Rampell in the Washington Post
Regulation for Bricks, Clicks, and the Sharing Economy
By Steven Strauss in the Aspen Journal of Ideas
Irregular Work for the 21st Century: a Model from Britain?
By Wingham Rowan in the Aspen Journal of Ideas
The Downside to Lower Labor Costs in the Sharing Economy
By Maureen Conway in the Huffington Post
This event is part of the Working in America series, an ongoing discussion series hosted by the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program that highlights an array of critical issues affecting low- and moderate-income workers in the United States and ideas for improving and expanding economic opportunities for working people. For more information, visit as.pn/workinginamerica.
Join the conversation on Twitter with the hashtag #talkgoodjobs.