About this event

Gig work is not new, but the rise of high-profile tech platforms such as Lyft, TaskRabbit, Handy, Care.com, Airbnb, and of course Uber have put a spotlight on independent work and raised new questions about the organization of work. In what ways is independent work working for people? In what ways can it pose problems? How can we build systems in which gig work is good work?

Answers are complicated because gig workers come in all types: full-time drivers, college students delivering food after classes, parents picking up shifts around their kids’ schedules, teachers looking to earn supplemental income, and more. The personal and economic needs of gig workers can be as varied as the platforms they use.

As a society that encourages work, we need to also consider what the rewards for hard work should be. We know that working people need access to benefits such as health insurance and paid sick days, but who should provide them? What kind of flexibility do workers need and how well does that match with business needs for flexible access to workers? Can gig jobs support both thriving businesses and thriving workers and families?

This event explores the issues and opportunities facing gig workers and offers ideas for building supports to make gig work good work.

Speakers

Jake Biscoglio
Vice President, Strategic Growth Initiatives/New Market Development, Prudential Financial @Prudential

Jake Biscoglio leads Strategic Initiatives at Prudential with a focus on independent worker and aggregation opportunities. Jake joined Prudential in October 2014 to lead the Disability business for Group Insurance. In this role, he was responsible for the overall financial results of the business. Additionally, he was responsible for the Product Development, Contracts Filing, and Client Analytics and Consulting Practice.

Biscoglio has broad experience in health care, insurance, and consulting. He began his career at Cigna as an underwriter, and then went on to lead the development and launch of the company’s consumer driven product, Cigna Choice Fund. Prior to Prudential, Biscoglio led the Private Exchange business for Cigna, with accountability for the company’s private exchange strategy and business operations. He previously served as a consultant with Hewitt Associates and was vice president, Product Development for WellPoint’s commercial business unit.

Biscoglio holds an MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and a BA from Providence College. He resides in Connecticut and serves as a Trustee for The Wheeler Clinic , as a Board member for The Mill Foundation for Kids, LLC., and as a member of the Post University Marketing Advisory Group.

Lindsey Cameron
PhD Candidate, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan @MichiganRoss

Lindsey Cameron is a PhD candidate at the University of Michigan, Ross School of Business and formerly a pre-doctoral fellow at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Her research focuses on work, workers, and organizing in post-bureaucratic organizations with an emphasis on equity, inclusion, and worker well-being. Specifically, her dissertation focuses on the fastest growing part of the US economy – the on-demand or ‘gig’ economy — and what is means when algorithms, as opposed to people, are supervisors. Drawing on a twenty-six month ethnography of the largest employer in the gig economy, the ride-hailing industry, she explores the idea of algorithmic work and how it fundamentally reshapes the nature of managerial control. In her prior career, Lindsey spent over a decade in the U.S. Intelligence and diplomatic communities as a digital, political, and counter-terrorism analyst and completed several overseas assignments in the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. She received her SB from Harvard University and MS from George Washington University. You can access her website at www.lindseycameron.com.

Joshua Karam
Co-Founder and CEO, Hyr @HyrWork

Joshua is the Co-Founder and CEO at Hyr, where they’re passionate about helping hospitality and retail businesses overcome the pressure of rising labor costs and everyday staffing challenges like high turnover, call-offs, and vacation coverage. Hyr connects businesses to trusted and skilled hourly paid workers to fill any shift, at any time. And the gig workers using Hyr earn extra income when they have time in their schedules, as well as a form of benefits called UPoints that are portable for their entire working life. Joshua is an accomplished entrepreneur and HR executive whose passion and enthusiasm for human resources led him to co-found Hyr in 2015. He was the Founding Director of Synchronize, a national full services HR firm with a specialty in communication and crisis management in the workplace. Prior, he held executive roles in HR with Marriott Hotels and Starwood Hotels and Resorts.

Libby Reder @libbyreder
Senior Fellow, Future of Work Initiative, The Aspen Institute @AspenFutureWork

For the past 15 years, Libby has worked across sectors to drive progress through multi-stakeholder collaboration. Currently an independent consultant, Libby advises a range of clients on strategy, marketing/communications and partnership development with a focus on the sharing/on-demand economy. Clients have included Peers.org, Crowd Companies, Institute for the Future and Yerdle.

Libby worked for eight years in leadership roles in Corporate Responsibility, Sustainability and Corporate Reputation at eBay Inc. and Visa Inc. In her first career chapter, Libby spent four years with the United States Senate Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Antitrust. She holds a BA in Government from Dartmouth College and an MBA from the University of California at Berkeley Haas School of Business.

Moderator

Eric Morath @EricMorath
Reporter, Labor Economics and Policy, The Wall Street Journal @WSJ

Eric Morath reports on labor economics and policy from The Wall Street Journal’s Washington Bureau. Previously, Eric covered the Treasury and Commerce departments, the Postal Service and bankruptcy news. Prior to joining Dow Jones in 2008, he covered the U.S. auto industry in Detroit. Eric is a graduate of Michigan State University. He lives in Silver Spring, Md., with his wife and three children.

Share

Tweet Gig work is not new, but platforms like @lyft, @TaskRabbit, @Handy, @CareDotCom, @Airbnb, and @Uber have put a spotlight on independent work and raised new questions about the organization of work.

Tweet Can gig work support businesses, workers, and families at the same time? Learn the issues and opportunities facing gig workers and hear ideas to make gig work good work.

Tweet Gig workers come in all types—drivers, students, parents, teachers—and their needs can be as varied as the platforms they use. In what ways is independent work working for people? How can we make it better?

Join the conversation

Join the conversation on Twitter by following @AspenWorkforce and tweeting with the hashtag #talkgoodjobs.

Tweets by AspenWorkforce

Learn more

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.

Learn how the Economic Opportunities Program is helping low- and moderate-income Americans connect to and thrive in a changing economy. Follow us on social media and join our mailing list to stay up-to-date on publications, blog posts, and other announcements.