<story><title>Postmates Wins New York Ruling Finding Couriers Not Employees</title><url>https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-21/postmates-wins-new-york-ruling-finding-couriers-not-employees</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>save_ferris</author><text>&amp;gt; And if everyone did their research, they wouldn&amp;#x27;t accept it either at current rates.&lt;p&gt;This would be true if there were better-paying alternatives out there that were accessible to most people, but there just aren&amp;#x27;t for many.&lt;p&gt;One thing that gig companies have going for them is the (relatively) low barrier for workers to earn money in an economy that hasn&amp;#x27;t seen significant and consistent wage growth in years.&lt;p&gt;If you&amp;#x27;re struggling to get a job in the first place, doing all of the planning you&amp;#x27;ve outlined could feel like premature optimization.</text></item><item><author>test6554</author><text>People need to do more research when they think about taking on these gig economy jobs full time. The first couple gigs you accept, you should log all your hours, even the hours you were on standby between gigs.&lt;p&gt;You need to know what your cost of living is including rent, food, insurance, taxes, etc. It should include all of your life goals like possible homeownership or a family as well as a decent amount toward retirement.&lt;p&gt;Then you need to know what your income and expenses (like vehicle maintenance, etc.) are projected to be and ensure that they meet your cost of living needs. If they don&amp;#x27;t meet this, then that path is not one you can accept.&lt;p&gt;And if everyone did their research, they wouldn&amp;#x27;t accept it either at current rates. You almost need a business plan since you are a contractor of unskilled labor.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>jstanley</author><text>&amp;gt; This would be true if there were better-paying alternatives out there that were accessible to most people, but there just aren&amp;#x27;t for many.&lt;p&gt;Exactly this. People like to complain about low-paying jobs as if they&amp;#x27;re exploiting the workers, but the workers aren&amp;#x27;t stupid. If there were better options available they would take them.&lt;p&gt;Trying to crack down on low-paying jobs is just cracking down on the only work available at all.</text></comment>
<story><title>Postmates Wins New York Ruling Finding Couriers Not Employees</title><url>https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-21/postmates-wins-new-york-ruling-finding-couriers-not-employees</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>save_ferris</author><text>&amp;gt; And if everyone did their research, they wouldn&amp;#x27;t accept it either at current rates.&lt;p&gt;This would be true if there were better-paying alternatives out there that were accessible to most people, but there just aren&amp;#x27;t for many.&lt;p&gt;One thing that gig companies have going for them is the (relatively) low barrier for workers to earn money in an economy that hasn&amp;#x27;t seen significant and consistent wage growth in years.&lt;p&gt;If you&amp;#x27;re struggling to get a job in the first place, doing all of the planning you&amp;#x27;ve outlined could feel like premature optimization.</text></item><item><author>test6554</author><text>People need to do more research when they think about taking on these gig economy jobs full time. The first couple gigs you accept, you should log all your hours, even the hours you were on standby between gigs.&lt;p&gt;You need to know what your cost of living is including rent, food, insurance, taxes, etc. It should include all of your life goals like possible homeownership or a family as well as a decent amount toward retirement.&lt;p&gt;Then you need to know what your income and expenses (like vehicle maintenance, etc.) are projected to be and ensure that they meet your cost of living needs. If they don&amp;#x27;t meet this, then that path is not one you can accept.&lt;p&gt;And if everyone did their research, they wouldn&amp;#x27;t accept it either at current rates. You almost need a business plan since you are a contractor of unskilled labor.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>ummonk</author><text>The economy has seen substantial wage growth at the low end. The local McDonald&amp;#x27;s was advertising pay of $13-$17 an hour - significantly above minimum wage.</text></comment>