Pew Research on the Gig 2021 Economy

FromSmallBizLabs, reporting on the Gig Economy: 

Pew Research on The State of the Gig Economy in 2021

The Pew Research Center, a highly regarded non-profit, non-partisan D.C. think tank, recently released The State of Gig Work in 2021 report.  

The report covers the results of an in-depth survey of Americans who earn money from the gig economy, which Pew defined somewhat narrowly.  They only included workers who earned money by providing the following services via online gig platforms: 

"... driving for a ride-hailing app; shopping for or delivering groceries or household items; performing household tasks like cleaning someone’s home or assembling furniture, or running errands like picking up dry cleaning; making deliveries from a restaurant or store for a delivery app; using a personal vehicle to deliver packages to others via a mobile app or website such as Amazon Flex; or doing something else along these lines.

This leaves out many independent worker segments and platforms, including professional services.  

But by only looking at a subset of consumer services platforms, the study zeros in on the most controversial online gig platforms and work - ridesharing, deliver services and personal errand services.  

Pew found that 16% of adult Americans have earned money at some point via platforms included in their study, with 4% currently earning money via these platforms and an additional 5% saying they've earned money via these platforms over the past 12 months.  

Since there are about 258 million Americans 18 years and older, these percentages translate to roughly:

10.3 million Americans currently earn money as gig workers

23.2 million earned money as gig workers over the past year

41 million have done this type of gig work at some point in the past

The study's results echo the results of almost every other study done on the gig economy.  The quick summary is:

Most (78%) report having either a very positive experience (24%) or a somewhat positive experience (54%) doing gig work.  Only 17% report a negative experience.

Most work part-time, with only 8% saying they do this type of gig work more than 30 hours per week.

Most (58%) say the income they earn via gig work is either essential (23%) or important (35%) to meeting their basic needs.

The study chart below (click to enlarge) shows the reasons gig workers take on this type of work. 

Just as other studies have found (including ours), most gig workers do this work because it's a flexible way to supplement income.     ..... '

Hyperconverged Infrastructure for Digital Transformation?

Just started to get these alerts and overviews from HPE that look interesting, and claim to speed digital transformation.  For SMB (Small and Medium sized Businesses) Not quite following why.  Worth understanding. 

How HCI 2.0 simplifies and unlocks agility to speed digital transformation

By Sandy_Ono  ‎02-04-2021 11:15 AM

Learn how second-generation hyperconverged infrastructure from HPE can help SMBs move ahead through these challenging times, delivering a world of reliability, efficiency, and savings—while improving the simplicity and agility of HCI.

These are unpredictable times. But that does not mean your small or midsized business can be put on hold. On the contrary, now is the exact right time to start or accelerate digital transformation. In fact, a recent survey of more than 3,600 small and midsized businesses shows that 51% of SMBs have stepped up their digital transformation investments—and digital transformation is prominent in the plans of 22% of SMBs who report that current crisis has amplified their sense of urgency for an organization-wide digital transformation.”1

So you are definitely not alone as you look for ways to power recovery and future growth. To do that, you need intelligent infrastructure to unlock scale through innovation and customer excellence. Because let’s face it, no matter the size of your business, the future belongs to those who use data to differentiate, who understand customers better than anyone else—and who can innovate boldly and quickly.  ... ' 

Uses of AI for Small Business

 Fairly obvious, but the stats show you that small business understands the needs and possibilities.

The Growing Importance of AI for Small Businesses

AI has become enormously important for small businesses in recent years.  Posted By Gaurav Sharma

Artificial intelligence (AI) is no more confined to big businesses. As the technology matures and becomes more affordable, it has found a place in startups and small businesses as well.

A survey of 1,467 CEOs of small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) found that out of all the current technologies, AI has had the maximum impact on their business.   ... " 

New Dash Replenishment Shelf

 Alas the Amazon DASH replenishment Button, which we tested for a few years in stores and at homes  is gone. We were much into 'ease-of' and automatic replenishment tech in innovation centers and Smart home designs.   Well now DASH is back, but aimed at the small office with an automated weight driven  shelf.   Will this work, and for who? Below a sort description and discussion.   It turns out this shelf is not a new Dash idea, we were offered to test it back then,  but elected the consumer order button design.   Can we help you test?

Will Amazon’s Dash Smart Shelf drive auto-replenishment from SMBs and consumers?  by Tom Ryan in Retailwire

Amazon.com, after retiring the Dash Button last year, has introduced a replacement, Dash Smart Shelf, that promises to shake up the office supplies space and bring auto-replenishment to households.

Costing $19.99 each, Dash Smart Shelf is a weight-sensing, Wi-Fi-enabled auto-replenishment scale. When placed on a flat surface, such as a warehouse rack, it can track inventory for commonly used products. When it senses supplies are running low, a replenishment order or notification is automatically sent.

The system offers three scale sizes; each scale can only be paired with one product at a time. Amazon says that “thousands of popular products” including most household and workplace staples can be replenished under the program.   .... '

Microsoft AI Powered Digital Marketing

Not a very detailed article, but of interest.   Somewhat unexpected space for Microsoft.  Here an effort first in India.

Microsoft unveils AI-powered Digital Marketing Center 
By Hamza Jawad  in Neowin

In recent months, we have seen Microsoft try to make a couple of its interesting Garage projects a bit more mainstream. The SMS Organizer app, originally only available in India, began rolling out to other regions in August, including the U.S., the UK, and Australia. Some weeks before that, the Redmond firm's travel app Outings graduated from the incubator program, with its features being integrated with Bing.

Now, Microsoft has unveiled a new Garage project, dubbed Digital Marketing Center. The tool is powered by artificial intelligence, and is aimed toward the automation of digital marketing for small and midsize businesses (SMBs).  .... "

AI Assistance and Small Business

Will assistants provider cheaper access to expertise to the small business first, because its a cheaper source of knowledge?

How AI Can Help Small Business Solve Big Problems

Podcast:

Intuit's Ashok Srivastava explains how AI-powered software can help individuals and small businesses.

Small business owners and self-employed individuals typically face financial and operational challenges. Artificial intelligence is giving them a leg up through applications such as smarter accounting software and fintech services like expanded access to capital. At the recent AI Frontiers conference in Silicon Valley, Ashok Srivastava, chief data officer at financial software firm Intuit, the creator of TurboTax, QuickBooks and Mint, spoke to Knowledge@Wharton about how his firm is using AI to “power prosperity for the current and future generations.”     

An edited transcript of the conversation follows.

Knowledge@Wharton: How did you get interested in AI and data sciences?

Ashok Srivastava: It’s an interesting story. In some ways you might say it was predestined. My father was a mathematician and a statistician who worked in many areas of information science, experimental design and so forth. When I was young, he bought me a book on artificial intelligence (AI) and told me that I had to read it during the summer. Being the good son, I took it and I read it in the university library. It made a tremendous impact on me. Ever since I was a child, I was interested in making things do things for themselves. That was just my way of thinking. I remember that I used to think like that even while playing with toys. AI seemed to be the way to do it.

Well, I ended up reading that book and thinking about it, but frankly, I then put it aside and went about my journey in electrical engineering. I got a Ph.D. in electrical engineering and I focused on signal process and control theory and those types of fields. But towards the end of my Ph.D., I became interested in machine learning. That was the point where I started to work in machine learning and neural networks and bringing ideas from signal processing and time series into it. That got me into the field and I’ve been in it ever since. ... "

Retail uses for Machine Learning

Machine Learning for SMB Retailers and Brands.  Talk and panel discussion.  Sponsored by Retailwire.

Here is the recording of the webinar and supporting slides.

Meeting Description: 

Machine Learning can provide SMBs the edge they need to level the playing field.

For small and mid-size retailers and brands (SMBs), it's virtually impossible to compete with the dominant online platforms based on pricing. To maintain margins, SMBs are looking to differentiate in smarter ways — to carve out their own territory in areas rivals can't match. 

Most companies, large and small, already use advanced analytics to optimize processes and decision making, so that's just table stakes in this market. And yet recent advancements have made Machine Learning suites available to SMBs that can help them fortify their competitive strengths. 

We’ll cover ways the retailers can start applying Machine Learning based on their individual readiness, and how it can benefit many areas of their organizations through:

Personalized recommendations based on learned intelligence 

Customer service through chatbot technology

Customer "churn" predictions through Machine Learning

Join us for a "humanizing" look at Machine Learning, including an engaging panel discussion exploring how this emerging tech can offer your business greater competitive opportunities ...