Being able to earn money whenever you want so you don't have to build your life around your work would be huge even if it makes you earn a bit less. Developers earn a lot already, many would take that trade.
Edit: That would make game development much more palatable, since gig work implies no overtime unless you want it. Just do some game development and earn money rather than doing it for free on a hobby project. And since it is just a gig you can easily try it out and do something else if you don't like it.
> Being able to earn money whenever you want so you don't have to build your life around your work
And yet, every instance of gig economy pushes wages way down, pushes all the externalities (like health insurance, travel, equipment etc.) onto workers and makes their life revolve around work.
> That would make game development much more palatable, since gig work implies no overtime unless you want it.
As others already mentioned: then you'll be out of the job, because there will always be people willing to work overtime for the same money.
And since it's "just a gig", you can be let go even faster than it is now for workers in the US.
How would gig economy not result in game dev being more exploitative than it is now? Oh, you dont want to do overtime making those car models? No problem. We have contact to 10 other people just waiting to do it in your place. And we will pay them less than we pay you, and then we will pay even less to those who will replace them.
Keep system running for decade or two and you have another area where people work to don't die from hunger. Because thats how gig economy worked for every other market.
And what is your retirement plan? Keep working until your health prevents you from working anymore and then die on streets?
The OP's words were 'independent contractor'. Someone switched the words to 'gig economy' and started beating on the straw man.
The OP is actually right - contractors have much better treatment than employees. Not only in law, where you can't be told your hours - etc, but also just by the nature of your employment where you have to sell yourself and they desire to work with you or they wouldn't have paid your fee. This isn't the case in industries where they have fake contracting - employment in all but name, but as an actual independent developer or whatever you make more and get treated better.
> you dont want to do overtime making those car models? No problem. We have contact to 10 other people just waiting to do it in your place.
This isn't how contracting works. They give you a deadline for the work and you accept it. They don't know if you're fast or slow as long as you meet the deadline. They don't demand you do more, they offer it.
As an employee you're a machine for them to use? Have you heard the phrase "Drive it like you're renting it"?
> And we will pay them less than we pay you, and then we will pay even less to those who will replace them.
Then they aren't in that first artists range anymore so they take other work.
At some point the work is "Click on all transparent segments of the SpongeBob character, applying to correct color for that body part from this design document." Why would that employ the same artists who, from an empty page, designed those characters and their looks?
