Young people from Newry's gig sector meet the policymakers at Think Lab

As part of a European initiative the WIN Think Lab in Newry hosted a EU Giggin Policy Lab today.  Policymakers from different levels of government and other influential people in society were involved in discussions with young people working or thinking of working in the gig industry.

Investopedia explains A gig economy as "a labor market that relies heavily on temporary and part-time positions filled by independent contractors and freelancers rather than full-time permanent employees. Gig workers gain flexibility and independence but little or no job security."

Todays event gave local gig workers an opportunity to talk about their experiences working as freelancers, both positive and negative, as well as a chance to discuss the implications for them and society more generally of the changing labour market, with a panel who have experience of the policy arena, how “the system” works and the challenges that need to be overcome to achieve change.

Conor Patterson, CEO of Newry and Mourne Co-Operative and Enterprise Agency explained "Today was about a dialogue between a group of citizens, young people who are trying to make a living and carve out a life for themselves on the one hand, and those that have influence in shaping how society is structured, how the economy is structured, because at some levels in government the pace of change isn't fully appreciated."

The panel included President of Newry Chamber of Commerce and Trade, Julie Gibbons; representatives from SRC in Newry; Dundalk Institute of Technology; Cllr David Taylor representing local government, Council officials from Newry, Mourne and Down and Louth County Council's;  Conor Murphy and Justin McNulty representing the Northern Ireland Assembly and Mickey Brady MP.

Mr Patterson continued "The young gig workers heard advice from influential people that have been around, helping people start businesses, either just as self employed individuals or to become employers in the future. But also I suppose as older people that have a bit of experience around the importance of making financial provision for the future, even in a small way, to be putting money aside."

He added "Freelance work is a global phenomenon. Since the pandemic there's a phenomenon that's been described as 'the great resignation', literally millions of people not going back to the jobs that they were employed in before, not because the employers didn't want them, but because they decided there's a better life that I can lead and I either will go back on a different basis, working from home and if the employer doesn't want me to do that I'll move in to self employment. I'll follow the dream that I've always had, and just felt trapped in my job. This has been millions of workers, literally millions in the US and Canada but it's been a phenomenon across the European Union."

This underlying change is accelerating across all EU member states partly because of the opportunities provided with new technology. Many EU countries are currently holding policy labs like the Newry one to see what the giggin model looks like in their patch.