App Services Workers

Within the past decade or so, software applications have been developed that allowed consumers to access lists of services, determine an acceptable price, schedule an appointment for services or delivery of goods, and pay for their order—all within a matter of minutes on their smartphone, tablet, or laptop.

The founding of grocery and restaurant delivery companies such as Grubhub (which was founded in 2004), Instacart (2012), and DoorDash (2013); rideshare companies such as Uber (2009) and Lyft (2012); and home improvement and other types of daily life assistance companies such as TaskRabbit (2008) have revolutionized the way businesses deliver services to customers and vastly improved the speed and efficiency at which customers can obtain assistance for a variety of needs.

With the advent of these app service companies, a need developed for contractors who could work as rideshare and delivery drivers, perform basic home maintenance tasks, and do almost any other task that customers might need completed. The pandemic heightened the demand for gig workers, particularly transportation and food delivery service workers, which also heightened the competition for gig jobs. It’s estimated that about 64 million Americans (or more than one-third of the U.S. workforce) are employed in the gig economy for primary or secondary employment, according to Forbes. App service workers play an important role in the gig economy, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.