Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2022. Read them in this 14th annual VMblog.com series exclusive.
Greater focus on gig worker protections
By Mark Warnquist, Co-Founder & CEO, InShare
We
have witnessed radical changes in the US workforce since the pandemic hit in
2020. One segment that is experiencing surging worker demand is the Sharing
Economy, including such companies as Lyft, Uber, DoorDash, GrubHub and others.
According to PWC, the
Sharing Economy is expected to be a $335 billion (USD) segment by 2025. With
that scale and the continued demand for workers, we can expect to see greater
focus on the gig economy workforce in 2022 and beyond.
A
recent study by Pew Research Center, found that 16% of Americans have ever earned money through an online
gig platform in at least one of the following ways: 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.
As
more and more Americans choose gig work for their primary or supplemental
incomes, we should see two trends. First, the public policy debate around gig
worker classification will only increase in profile. Second, the need for gig
worker protections will take center stage as Sharing Economy companies compete
for talent and regulators look for solutions for a compelling need.
We
predict that gig worker protections will be a hot topic in 2022 for at least
two reasons. First, continued progress toward COVID-19 recovery (hopefully)
will bring greater consumer use of certain Sharing Economy platforms (e.g.,
Rideshare) and attract growing populations of gig workers. Second, 2022 is an
election year, and gig worker classification is - at its core - a controversial
political issue. We know it will be the subject of at least one ballot
initiative, and there might well be others.
Increased Consolidations
2021 has been
a big year for consolidation helping two companies benefit from each other's
strengths. A recent example being Lemonade purchasing Metromile, a consolidation of two
very high profile insurtechs. I predict this trend to continue through 2022 and
beyond.
##
ABOUT
THE AUTHOR
Mark brings a wealth of
insurance and sharing economy platform experience to InShare. Prior to founding
InShare with Sean Fitzsimmons, Mark served as Uber's Global Claims Director. In
that capacity, he was responsible for Uber's Claims function across nearly 60
countries, and was a key contributor to a team that built insurance products globally at pace and at
scale. Mark was instrumental in Uber's strategy to diversify and expand carrier
partnerships in the US, and drive improvements in Claims performance
globally.
Prior to Uber, Marked
served as EVP and Chief
Claims Officer for Aviva Canada. Before that, Mark held a number of senior
leadership roles at Travelers, and had responsibilities for GL, Major Case,
International and Commercial claims as well as Travelers' 675-lawyer Staff
Counsel operation.
Mark is a graduate of
the Pennsylvania State University and George Washington University Law School.
He and his wife, Dana, reside in Scottsdale, Arizona.