Gig worker Hannibal Darby encourages others not to confine themselves to working for just one app. He said there are numerous different kinds of gig work available.
A new Pew Research Center study found that 56% of current or recent gig workers cited "wanting to save up extra money" as a key motivation for engaging in the gig economy. The study also found that 52% specified the need to cover a change or gap in income, while 49% reported that flexibility and the ability to control their own schedule was a major factor in choosing to do gig work. Other major motivations included "wanting to be their own boss," working for enjoyment or as a hobby, and not having many job opportunities available in their region.
"You can find the kind of app or the kind of work that you want to do," Darby said, before addressing specific apps and kinds of work. "And again, it's all market dependent. But like, for instance, I am signed up for Instacart as a shopper as, right, a personal shopper. I'm not a big fan of it because it takes a long time for me to find things in the grocery store ... But, most people that can do grocery shopping fast can make good money doing Instacart."
Darby continued, "There's obviously what I do with Rover, taking care of dogs ... There's so many different types of jobs that you can do ... You always tell everyone to apply to as much apps as possible. Don't just kind of rely on one app. Sign up to all of them because you all work a little differently."
Approximately 59 million Americans engage in the gig economy, according to Fortunly. Roughly 170 U.S. companies participate in the gig economy as well, exclusively hiring remote workers.
Upwork said that 30% of Fortune 500 companies use the platform to discover new employees.
Nearly three-quarters of Gen Z has participated in the gig economy, Fortunly reported.
Darby runs a YouTube channel called "Hannibal is Hungry," through which he shows videos pertaining to the gig economy. Darby makes videos targeted at aiding his 3.26k subscribers to excel in gig economy labor.