The gig economy: workers on tap

零工经济：随去随用的劳动力(上)
gig economy 零工经济
on tap 随时可用的

THE Archbishop of Canterbury sees it as "the reincarnation of an ancient evil".

archbishop n.大主教
reincarnation n.翻版，转世化身

Elizabeth Warren, a senator from Massachusetts, says that, for many workers, it is the "next step in a losing effort to build some economic security in a world where all the benefits are floating to the top 10%".

Luigi Di Maio, Italy's deputy prime minister, is going after it as part of his "war on precarious work".

precarious adj.不稳定的；不牢靠的

For many, the "gig economy", in which short-term jobs are assigned via online platforms, is a potent symbol of how modern capitalism has failed.

potent adj.强有力的
modern capitalism 现代资本主义

Critics rail that it allows firms to rid themselves of well-paid employees, replacing them with cheap freelancers. Workers who once relied on an employer to pay into their pension, or to cover their health care when they fell ill, must instead save for the future themselves.

Critics n.评论家；批评者
rail v.谴责，抱怨
rid...of... 使...摆脱...

On this reading, the gig economy turbocharges insecurity and the erosion of workers’ hard-won rights. There is a grain of truth to this. But it misses the bigger picture.

reading n.阐释
turbocharge v.给引擎装上涡轮增压器，引申为加剧
grain n.微量，少量

For one thing, despite city streets clogged with Uber drivers and Deliveroo cyclists, gigging is not about to take over the world.

clog with (使)堵塞
take over 接管，接受

Across the OECD club of mostly rich countries, the share of workers in full-time positions, which dropped after the financial crisis of 2008-09, has been rising. In America the average job tenure has barely changed in the past 30 years. Depending on whom you ask, 1-5% of Americans gig—but many of those have salaried jobs as well.

tenure n.任期，保有期
salaried adj.拿薪金的，有薪水的

文章来源 经济学人/流利阅读