OPINION: A growing gig Economy and what employers need to know about employees and independent contractors

A survey that was conducted by the Centre for Global Development during the period between February 2019 and November 2020 found that almost 60% of youth in Uganda are now involved in the gig economy due to job losses arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey was based on interviews conducted among 13,732 households. The gig economy refers to a labour market characterised by short-term contracts or freelance work as opposed to permanent jobs. Today, more employers are scaling down their reliance on permanent employees and have turned to independent contractors to meet their human resourcing needs. While this may…