APPLETON – Amanda Savage, 33, is a married mother of one. She works full-time at Plexus in Neenah and, in her spare time, she’s a Dasher for DoorDash.
Savage is following the popular trend of using delivery or ride sharing apps as a secondary means to make more income for her and her family.
Due to the pandemic and supply chain issues, Savage’s job forced employees to take weeks off at a time, at least once a month. She would claim unemployment, but even that wasn’t always enough to cover her financial needs.
She began with DoorDash in September, and has delivered for the company since then.
“I was just like ‘it wouldn’t hurt (to have) some extra cash’ and I applied right along with (my husband),” Savage said. “I was accepted and I ended up loving it.”
Over the past two years, there have been dramatic shifts in the labor market, from businesses having to temporarily close due to COVID-19 restrictions, to take-out businesses thriving during the lockdown, to businesses having to shut down again after re-opening because of staffing shortages.
However, one labor type has remained constant, if not increased, since the start of the pandemic and even years before: Freelance work.
Freelance jobs, such as DoorDash, Uber and Instacart, have trended upward over the past two years. Last year, the total number of independent workers grew to 51.1 million from 38.2 million in 2020, according to a survey by MBO Partners, a platform which works with independent professionals.
Freelancers contributed $1.3 trillion to the U.S. economy in annual earnings in 2021, which is $100 million more than 2020, stated a survey by Upwork.
Independent workers include contract workers, those who are self-employed, temporary and on-call workers and those who get work from third party online apps or marketplaces.
According to a survey conducted by Pew Research Center, 16% of adult Americans have earned money at some point through an online gig platform.
Among these workers, most prefer to use gig work as a secondary job or something they do on the side of their main income. However, about 3% of American adults say gig work has been their main job over the last year.
Savage is a part of the percentage that uses the work as a “side hustle” to her primary job, working Plexus in the daytime and DoorDashing in the evening.
How much are drivers making in Wisconsin?
Wisconsin has a significant number of independent workers.
There are over 30,000 Uber drivers and 6,000 Instacart shoppers throughout the state. Eatsreet, a food delivery app which started up in Madison, has over 1,000 drivers in the state.
Seeing as these jobs depend on how many rides or deliveries the driver accepts, the wages can differ between apps and locations.
Uber drivers in Milwaukee can earn more than $27 an hour, Instacart shoppers can earn $7 to $10, not including tips, per batch — depending on the area. At a national level, DoorDash drivers can earn over $25 an hour.
Savage said the extra funds she’s received by working for DoorDash between 9 and 10 hours per week have significantly helped her with bills and extracurricular activities.
“Dashing is (how) I saved up to be able to take my daughter to go do the things that we’re going to do for her birthday,” she said. “It helped a lot with Christmas as well. Now a lot of the money that I have set aside is going towards trying to put a down payment on a house.”
Through DoorDash and similar apps, drivers receive orders based on their location and ratings. Drivers with higher ratings are given the opportunity to accept deliveries before drivers with lower ratings.
Instacart jobs are determined by various factors, including store location, mileage, number and weight of items, and number of customers per batch.
Eatstreet drivers are given a base pay alongside the tips they receive per order, making it possible for a driver to earn over $25 to $27 an hour.
“The more deliveries they make, the more money they make,” said Peter Hessel an Eatstreet representative.
This is typically the trend for these type of jobs, drivers and employees earn more money the more often they deliver.
Work, life balance a bonus for drivers working as side hustle
While some may not favor the gig job lifestyle, it is the flexibility of hours and the ability to work when you choose that attracts many employees to these apps.
“The reason Dashers have this flexibility when working with DoorDash is because they are independent contractors,” a survey conducted by DoorDash stated. “They’re paid for each delivery they complete and when they’re not delivering an order, they can fill their time any way they wish.”
This could be the reason why 90% of Dashers nationwide wish to remain as independent contractors for the company, the survey stated.
In 2021, 87% of full time independent workers said they were happier working on their own, and 78% said it was better for their health.
According to a survey done by Upwork, nearly half of all independent or freelance workers said no amount of money would convince them to work a traditional job.
“They looked to freelancing to take control of when they work, where they work, and with whom they work,” the survey stated.
According to the same survey, 18% of independent workers said they make more than they would working a traditional job.
“I love how flexible it is because sometimes I won’t even plan on DoorDashing and then something opens up and I can just go on the app and click ‘Dash Now’ and I can go Dash for a couple hours,” Savage said. “I don’t even have to have myself scheduled, it really depends on how busy it is.”
The physical labor component of these jobs is small, making it possible for adults of all ages to find additional ways to earn money.
Instacart employees range between the ages of 18 and 44, 35% of them being age 25 to 34. Eatstreet, meanwhile, has a higher number of older workers, putting its average employee age around 35.
“We have drivers as young as 18 and surprisingly a good number of drivers who are up to 83 years old,” Hessel said.
The big question: Can drivers get benefits?
While most traditional jobs offer employees some form of benefits such as healthcare, a retirement or life insurance, that is not something independent workers should expect.
As a result, although delivery app employees enjoy working for these companies, many don’t see these jobs as a way to build a career.
Debates on whether gig job workers should be classified as employees or independent contractors have become more prominent as the gig job workforce increases. These debates are directly tied to discussions about what protections and benefits these workers should have.
About 57% of adult Americans say drivers for ride-hailing apps should have more legal protections from being mistreated by their companies.
Eatstreet is one of the companies that does offer their drivers some form of benefits.
“Our drivers are W-2 employees, so we treat them as employees,” Hessel said. “Eligible full-time drivers, if they are interested, are offered health insurance and a 401K.”
DoorDash also offers a few incentives and benefits to their drivers. All of their U.S. drivers are covered by occupational accident insurance, which covers them if they are injured while working for the company.
The company has partnered with Catch to help their drivers access health insurance with discounted premiums. They have partnered with Stride Health to provide access to affordable health, vision, dental and life insurance.
Drivers also receive 2% cash back on gas anywhere when they use DasherDirect.
As more drivers are being considered actual employees of these companies, it is becoming important for them to be offered benefits such as these.
But independent workers, like Savage, still continue to use these delivery apps to make additional income on their own time.
“I just really enjoy it,” Savage said. “Even after working my ten hour shift, I can go and Dash for two or three hours and I get to just be by myself and listen to my music. It’s a nice way to make money, you really can make some good money if you pick the right timing.”
Reach Jelissa Burns at 920-226-4241 or jburns1@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @burns_jelissa or on Instagram at burns_jelissa.
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