Jack Thorogood, Founder and CEO at Native Teams — a global platform for work payments and employment, operates in 85+ countries.
The value of the global gig economy is expected to surpass $600 billion this year, driven in part by the explosive growth in digital platforms. Governments are catching up by extending new rules on how platforms engage with workers. Meanwhile, the gig workforce demands more than just flexible work—they expect fairness, equal financial opportunities and protection of their rights.
The gig economy is at a turning point. I think the next phase will demand balancing gig workers’ expectations, new regulatory frameworks and next-gen automation tools.
The Gig Economy By The Numbers
The global gig economy has become an economic force in its own right. If we take a look at the numbers, platform-based labor generated $556.7 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 16.18% from 2025 to 2033.
A 2023 report found the gig workforce made up approximately 12% of the total global labor market. And while sectors like ridesharing and food delivery are still dominant, creative and professional services are also gaining traction.
Despite this growth, the market still remains highly fragmented. First-tier platforms control a significant portion of the total gig economy spending, and hundreds of smaller regional players serve niche markets or local needs. While this fragmentation creates a lot of opportunities, it also triggers regulatory challenges that need to be addressed to ensure fairness.
Regulatory Inflection Points
Regulators across the globe are already moving from observation to intervention. The platform work directive in the EU, set to take effect by December 2, 2026, introduces major shifts for the gig workforce, including a presumption of employment, stricter rules around algorithmic management and data transparency.
In early 2024, the Biden administration issued a new rule that narrows down the definition of independent contractors, aiming to reclassify more gig workers as regular employees. The situation in Latin America is similar. Brazil has already introduced gig-worker protections, while Mexico introduced social security coverage for platform workers.
As countries implement these changes, some are also “gold-plating” with national-level requirements beyond the international ones. These added layers of regulation may be well-intentioned, but in practice, I note fragmented compliance and the need for automation as a regulatory necessity.
Worker Expectations And Social-Ethics Shifts
As the gig economy moves forward, it’s clear that workers need more than flexibility. Here, I’m speaking about benefits parity, real-time access to earnings and more transparency on how essential platform decisions are made.
Gig work is no longer temporary or done on the side—for many, it’s a full-time career. These people need solutions to manage cash flows, reduce payday loan dependency and contribute to state pensions and social security systems. After all, if gig work is the main source of income, it must come with a way to secure future benefits. The rise of instant-pay wallets and virtual cards is just one piece, and by 2025, many expect them to become the default infrastructure.
That said, I suggest platforms work on fairness and transparency. Embedding ethical design products that give workers appeal rights and clear visibility into how systems operate is becoming essential to help the gig workforce thrive and meet international directives and regulatory standards.
Technology As The Great Enabler
As the operational bar for platforms is rising, technology can help meet these requirements. Manual processes are now replaced by automation stacks, and platforms are following the shift by transforming into entire employment ecosystems.
Employer of record (EOR) switch-over modules are one example. These systems automatically detect when a worker’s status should transition from contractor to employee based on specific legal thresholds. Bulk-pay engines and compliance dashboards count here, too, especially as the most sophisticated ones provide visibility to payments, taxes and benefits.
Seeing these advancements making major shifts, gig platforms are now expected to explain how their algorithms work, especially when decisions affect a worker’s income or status.
In fact, in the Netherlands, Uber was fined nearly €600,000 for lacking transparency in automated driver dismissals, showing what could happen when algorithmic governance is ignored or overlooked. Hence, embedding audit logs, explainability and human-in-the-loop reviews is becoming a regulatory baseline.
Finally, I’m seeing plug-and-play APIs helping platforms integrate dispatch tools, HR systems, invoicing apps and beyond. In short, technology is what keeps the entire gig economy moving.
However, these technological upgrades come with their own cost. Compliance tools, such as worker status monitoring and algorithmic audits, require ongoing investment, which can strain smaller platforms and ultimately lead larger players to adjust their charging methods for gig workers.
As expected, this could indirectly harm the gig workforce’s earnings and automatically raise questions about how to balance compliance and fairness with financial stability.
New Business Models And Revenue Streams
Gig platforms are no longer just intermediaries between supply and demand—they’re becoming a whole new business model.
The embedded finance market hit $104.8 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow at a 23.3% CAGR through 2034. The integration of embedded solutions, such as micro-lending, insurance and savings products, directly into these platforms aids the gig workforce in achieving stability and provides new monetization levels for platforms.
Value-added services are gaining ground at the same time. Platforms today offer subscription-based analytics, workforce health dashboards and compliance-as-a-service partnerships. Collaborations between aggregators, EOR providers and pay-tech vendors are also becoming common—all of this to accommodate the gig economy growth.
From my perspective, these shifts aren’t theoretical. I’ve seen firsthand how even small changes, like introducing flexible payout schedules, can directly impact gig workers’ ability to stay financially afloat.
The pressure isn’t just on platforms to grow revenue; it’s on all of us to design infrastructure that matches the reality of the gig economy. By creating systems that give workers control over their income, access to social protection schemes and better financial security, industry leaders can contribute to an ecosystem that puts the worker first and makes the global economy more resilient.
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