NIRA OPINION PAPER
No.64 | March 2023

Why Is Gig Work Not More Widely Used as a Side Job?
- The Current Status of Gig Work and Associated Issues as Revealed By a Questionnaire
Survey on the Effects of the Spread of COVID-19 on Telework-based Work Styles, Lifestyle,and Awareness-

Toshihiro Okubo

Adjunct Senior Fellow, Nippon Institute for Research Advancement/ Professor, Faculty of Economics, Keio University

The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a growing interest in “gig work,” the provision of
one-time, short-term services, with employers and workers being matched via theInternet. For workers, gig work allows the utilization of skills and time in a highly flexible
mode of working; for the providers of gig work, it allows the use of services that meet theirneeds at an affordable price. However, at the same time, gig workers do not have theguaranteed rights and benefits that are normal for workers. Their income tends to beunstable, and their safety net is fragile. The gig economy is becoming increasingly
important to Japanese society amid ongoing labor shortages and soaring prices. We areat a watershed moment in terms of whether or not this new way of working can be
developed in a healthy way.
According to the results of NIRA’s 9th Questionnaire Survey on the Effects of the Spreadof COVID-19 on Telework-based Work Styles, Lifestyle, and Awareness, an estimated2.75 million people in Japan as a whole, or 4% of all workers, have experience of gig work
as a side or concurrent job. Younger workers, self-employed workers with no employees,
professional and technical workers, managers, and teleworkers are most likely to engage
in gig work. The majority of gig work is white-collar work, such as data entry jobs. This ismainly what might be called “backward-looking gig work,” which is most strongly
characterized by supplementation of income from a main job using time that is not taken
up in that job. This differs from what we will call “forward-looking gig work,” in which
workers work flexibly and efficiently use their own ideas and skills without being tied
down to an organization; this is a style of work that has long been expected to eventuate.
In order to promote “forward-looking gig work,” it will be essential for companies tobecome more open to their employees having side jobs and to more appropriately evaluate
their workers’ skills and guarantee adequate wages, and that the system design ofplatforms that match workers and work is improved .

This is a translation of a paper originally published in Japanese in March 2023.
Copyright Ⓒ 2023 by Nippon Institute for Research Advancement
This is a translation of a paper originally published in Japanese. NIRA bears full responsibility for the translation
presented here. Translated by Michael Faul.

1

NIRA OPINION PAPER
No. 64 | March 2023

1. The Rise of Gig WorkIn recent years, “gig work” has been attracting significant attention as a new way of working.
The term gig work was coined from “gig” (i.e., a one-off musical performance at a small live musicvenue, etc.) and “work.” It refers to workers offering the performance of specific jobs or theprovision of specific services to customers on a one-time basis, in the main facilitated via services
that match the two sides on the Internet. Gig work began to spread, mainly in Europe and the
U.S., in the 2000s, and expanded rapidly when the pandemic struck. Gig work is also rapidly
increasing in Japan; a typical example of gig work in the nation is work as delivery workers for
Uber Eats and similar companies.
The advantages of gig work from a worker's perspective include the flexibility to decide working
hours and workload, and the ability to do a variety of jobs utilizing their skills without beingbound by employment contracts or organizations. On the other hand, there are also many
disadvantages. Gig workers are not affiliated with an organization such as a company, and they
therefore have no guaranteed rights and benefits. In addition, their work is determined bymatching skill-sets with work online, and work is not always available, meaning that a gig
worker’s income is necessarily unstable. Furthermore, although this factor is not limited to gig
work, routine tasks and jobs that attract a large number of applicants are less well paid thanother jobs.
Working as a gig worker has both advantages and disadvantages, but consumers are able tobenefit in many ways from gig work. Services for which there was previously a demand but
which could not be realized due to various constraints (e.g., availability of workers, cost, etc.), or
were overly expensive, are now readily available at affordable prices. In addition to the mealdelivery services mentioned above, such as Uber Eats and Japan’s Demae-can, other services
such as on-site cooking and housekeeping services are emerging one after another. In today's
Japan, an increasing number of elderly people are living alone, and they are finding it impossible
to perform house cleaning, garden maintenance, house repairs, shopping, and other chores bythemselves. In addition, daily housework and meal preparation can also be a challenge forfamilies with two working parents raising children. Gig workers provide a solution to these
problems by offering a variety of services that support the daily life of their clients.
Gig work is not limited to consumer services. Today, many companies and employers are
suffering from labor shortages and cannot afford to hire workers as full-time employees and pay
them adequate wages. As a result, an increasing number of jobs that cannot be performed
entirely in-house are being outsourced as one-time gig work jobs. For example, the outsourcing
Copyright Ⓒ 2023 by Nippon Institute for Research Advancement
This is a translation of a paper originally published in Japanese. NIRA bears full responsibility for the translation
presented here. Translated by Michael Faul.

2

NIRA OPINION PAPER
No. 64 | March 2023
of data entry and web management can reduce employment costs. In other cases, restaurants
in business districts hire temporary workers to assist during lunch hour or supermarkets
request gig workers to take inventory during the busy year-end and New Year holidays. The
ability to request one-time work without having to establish an employment contract isparticularly beneficial to a company.
When gig work first emerged, it was thought that what are termed in Japan “freeter,” part-time,
non-regular workers, were central to this type of work. However, in particular since thepandemic, a broad segment of workers in general, in addition to “freeters,” are now working or
wishing to work as gig workers. Gig work can therefore be broadly divided into the twocategories indicated below based on the gig worker’s motivation.
Japan faces a serious labor shortage due to the nation’s declining birthrate and aging population.
In addition, a long-term economic slump and heavy tax burden have reduced workers'
disposable income, and this has been exacerbated by a recent sharp rise in the cost of living.
Using gig work to break out of this situation and make up for the shortfall in living expenses iswhat we might term “backward-looking” gig work.
At the same time, workers' attitudes toward the way they work are also changing. As lifestyles
in Japan become more diverse, people are seeking more flexible work styles; an increasing
number of people want to work flexibly, making use of their own ideas and their own skills inan efficient way in side jobs without being tied down to an organization. This can be termed“forward-looking” gig work.
Whether “backward-looking” or “forward-looking,” the importance of gig work as a side job israpidly increasing. This paper will focus on the use of gig work to provide a side job for thealready employed.

2. Definition of Gig Work
There are various definitions of gig work. Some define “freeter” as gig workers, but the gig work
as discussed in this paper is gig work as a side or concurrent job. Therefore, it is assumed in thispaper that gig workers are already employed (including non-regular employees). Note thatunemployed persons, housewives (and househusbands), students, and “freeters” are notincluded in this definition.

Copyright Ⓒ 2023 by Nippon Institute for Research Advancement
This is a translation of a paper originally published in Japanese. NIRA bears full responsibility for the translation
presented here. Translated by Michael Faul.

3

NIRA OPINION PAPER
No. 64 | March 2023
For the purposes of this paper and the Questionnaire Survey on the Effects of the Spread of
COVID-19 on Telework-based Work Styles, Lifestyle, and Awareness discussed below, gig work
is defined as a way of working that does not involve an employment contract with a company,
but rather a one-time, short-term job contracted by a company or individual via the Internet.

3. Current Status of Gig Work
Since the beginning of the pandemic in early 2020, Professor Toshihiro Okubo's laboratory and
NIRA have jointly conducted an eight-part Questionnaire Survey on the Effects of the Spread of
COVID-19 on Telework-based Work Styles, Lifestyle, and Awareness concerning telework. This
project has asked survey participants a range of questions focusing on telework anddigitalization in order to conduct a fixed-point survey regarding the progress of the digital
economy and the behavior of workers. The eighth survey asked in detail about workers’
experience of gig work, the frequency and duration of the work, the remuneration for the work,
the nature and type of the job, and job satisfaction. There were 9,804 respondents to the eighth
survey, of whom 9,447 were employed at the time of the survey.
The survey results show that 393 workers indicated that they had done some type of gig workby December 2022 (Figure 1). This represents 4% of the total. 344 respondents had alreadyregistered with a job-matching service and were planning to do gig work in the future. This also
represents 4% of the total. Furthermore, 1,896 respondents, or 20% of the total, answered thatthey were interested in performing gig work or would like to try it in the future, although they
had no experience of it, had not registered with a job-matching service, or had no plans to do so.
This indicated that while the number of those who have actually done gig work remains small,there is a high level of interest in gig work among the already-employed.
Figure 1: Experience of gig work / Desire to perform gig work

Copyright Ⓒ 2023 by Nippon Institute for Research Advancement
This is a translation of a paper originally published in Japanese. NIRA bears full responsibility for the translation
presented here. Translated by Michael Faul.

4

NIRA OPINION PAPER
No. 64 | March 2023

Figure 2: Experience of gig work and desire to perform gig work (By attribute)

Copyright Ⓒ 2023 by Nippon Institute for Research Advancement
This is a translation of a paper originally published in Japanese. NIRA bears full responsibility for the translation
presented here. Translated by Michael Faul.

5

NIRA OPINION PAPER
No. 64 | March 2023
By employment status (Figure 2), those who are self-employed and have no employees are more
likely to engage in gig work (13%). By occupation, gig work tends to be more common in
professional/technical occupations (6%) and managerial occupations (6%). By industry, it is mostcommon in the communications and information industry (7%) and the agriculture, forestry,
and fisheries industry (7%). In addition, younger age groups are more likely to engage in gig
work, with little difference by gender. A higher percentage of teleworkers engage in gig work.
The overall labor force in Japan is approximately 68.6 million. The Japanese government
estimates the freelance population as about 4.62 million; some private research institutes
consider the freelance population to be equivalent to the gig work population or the potential gig
work population (Note 1). However, our surveys target only the side jobs of already-employedsubjects, and therefore while there is some overlap with sole proprietors in the survey, theoverall target population is different. Based on the results of our survey, the total number ofworkers engaging in gig work as a side job in Japan as a whole is about 2.75 million.

4. How Gig Workers Work, What They Do, and the Compensation They Receive
Respondents who had performed gig work in 2022 were asked about the frequency of their gig
work and their average work hours on the days that they performed gig work (Figures 3 and 4).
Although there was considerable variation, on average 38% performed gig work less than oncea month, 28% performed gig work once a month to one day a week (1 to 5 days a month), 25%
performed gig work 2 to 4 days a week (6 to 20 days a month), and 10% performed gig work 5 ormore days a week (21 or more days a month). The average amount of time spent on gig work
per day is 4.8 hours; it appears that people are doing gig work in their spare time (Note 2) (Note3).

Copyright Ⓒ 2023 by Nippon Institute for Research Advancement
This is a translation of a paper originally published in Japanese. NIRA bears full responsibility for the translation
presented here. Translated by Michael Faul.

6

NIRA OPINION PAPER
No. 64 | March 2023

Figure 3 : Frequency of gig work

Figure 4: Average gig work hours on days when doing gig work

Next, we asked respondents who had performed gig work about the nature of their work. Gig
work jobs are one-off jobs, and the job descriptions are wide-ranging. The worker surveys asked
about a total of more than 50 specific job descriptions, many of which are difficult to categorize(Table 5); because one-off jobs often span multiple fields, the questionnaire was multiple-choice,asking respondents to select all applicable details. Thus, the number of jobs ordered by
employers does not equal the number of job descriptions.

Copyright Ⓒ 2023 by Nippon Institute for Research Advancement
This is a translation of a paper originally published in Japanese. NIRA bears full responsibility for the translation
presented here. Translated by Michael Faul.

7

NIRA OPINION PAPER
No. 64 | March 2023

Table 5: Types of work done by gig workers

Copyright Ⓒ 2023 by Nippon Institute for Research Advancement
This is a translation of a paper originally published in Japanese. NIRA bears full responsibility for the translation
presented here. Translated by Michael Faul.

8

NIRA OPINION PAPER
No. 64 | March 2023
The most common type of gig work was “(1) Data entry,” with 111 respondents having performed
this work. The next most common types of gig work were “(2) Text entry, transcription,” (59respondents), followed by “(3) Editing, proofreading, grading,” (52 respondents), “(50)Monitoring or responding to questionnaires, quality assessment” (48 respondents), “(8) Design /Content creation” (39 respondents), “(5)Organization of forms and other documents” (26respondents), “(32) Manuscripts, writing, writing of articles, or other writing services” (25respondents) and “(7)Formulation of documents (PowerPoint, Excel, etc.) “ (25 respondents)
Because these jobs are performed as a side or concurrent job, they tend mainly to be short-termand routine jobs.
Looking at the relationship between these jobs and respondents’ main jobs (Table 1), it appears
that those working in specific occupations also make use of the skills they use in their main job
in gig work. It is particularly common for technicians and engineers in fields such as information
processing and telecommunications to perform data creation, software development, and other
IT-related work. Those whose main occupation is in the category “managerial occupation” also
do office-related work such as data entry, proofreading, text entry, and writing. In addition,
designers work in the areas of design and content creation. In general, gig workers tend mainly
to be people who work in offices, and they utilize the expertise gained in their main jobs to
perform gig work remotely. There are few cases in which the main occupation is on-site labor.
Because gig work as understood in this report is a side or concurrent job for survey subjects,
there are few jobs that are “Inefficient from the perspective of time,” “Tend to require long hours,”“Involve physical labor that may affect the main job,” or “Tend to be paid by piecework.”
Although not zero, the number of workers in the categories of “(35) Housekeeping, handyman
services, domestic help,” “(45) Construction, site work, civil engineering,” “(48) Cleaning,
maintenance” and “(49) Agriculture, fisheries/forestry, outdoor activities” is extremely low.
In addition, a very small number of respondents were engaged in gig work that required alicense or other qualification, such as “(31) Tax, legal and other specialized administrative
services” “(33) Acupuncture, moxibustion, osteopathy, massage,” “(26) Cooking-, food- andnutrition-related on-site services, online lessons, instructor,” and “(36) Barber, beautician, stylist,
dresser, makeup artist, esthetician, manicurist, health and beauty”. In some cases, the main jobof the person performing such work is a completely different occupation. For example, people
whose main occupation is clerical work, sales, or marketing may work side jobs as cooking or
nutrition instructors, while medical technicians or other professionals (librarians, curators) may
work as hairdressers or beauticians.

Copyright Ⓒ 2023 by Nippon Institute for Research Advancement
This is a translation of a paper originally published in Japanese. NIRA bears full responsibility for the translation
presented here. Translated by Michael Faul.

9

NIRA OPINION PAPER
No. 64 | March 2023
We asked respondents who had no experience of gig work, had not registered with a matching
service and had no plans to do so, but were interested in gig work, what type of work they would
prefer to do. The most common types of work desired were data entry, monitoring/responding toquestionnaires, office work (text entry, proofreading), surveys/research, and writing reviews.
These are jobs that can be done at home on a PC, with time allotted for predetermined, routine
tasks. The next most popular types of work were manufacturing, warehousing/packing,information processing/programming, design, and customer service/cashier work, which can beclassified as routine work or one-time work at a specific site.
Next, we will look at the relationship between gig work and income. Figure 6 shows the
distribution of gig workers by income group. Although the middle-income group is slightly
higher, it is clear that a relatively broad range of income groups tend to engage in gig work.
Figure 6: Annual income in 2022 and gig work

Copyright Ⓒ 2023 by Nippon Institute for Research Advancement
This is a translation of a paper originally published in Japanese. NIRA bears full responsibility for the translation
presented here. Translated by Michael Faul.

10

NIRA OPINION PAPER
No. 64 | March 2023
The survey also examined the remuneration from gig work (annual remuneration in 2022). The
average annual remuneration is 1.49 million yen, but the majority earn less than 1 million yen(Figure 7). It appears that the use of gig work is spreading to supplement income.
Figure 7: Gig work remuneration for workers who performed gig work in 2022

When workers engage in gig work as a side job, it can in many cases be categorized as“backward-looking gig work,” the major characteristic of which is supplementation of income.
This differs from the idea of “forward-looking gig work,” a type of work that has been expected
to emerge, and which represents a new way of working. The major characteristic of this type of
gig work is that it allows workers to flexibly use their time and increase their income efficiently
by utilizing their skills, without being restricted by a corporation or organization.

5. From “Backward-looking Gig Work” to “Forward-looking Gig Work”:
Problems and Solutions
Why has the use of gig work as a side job, in particular “forward-looking gig work,” not spreadsignificantly? Here we consider reasons based on survey results.
Figure 8 shows the results of a survey of subjects who have done gig work, asking about theiropinions of, and satisfaction with, gig work. Satisfaction with the flexible hours and the ability
to work frequently offered by gig work is high. However, there is strong dissatisfaction with theincome earned, the low unit price of work, and gig work’s legal status (i.e., minimum wage, sickleave, social insurance, etc.). Dissatisfaction with income is particularly high: 13% of gig workers
are not satisfied at all with their income (lowest on a scale of 1 to 10) and only 4% are very
Copyright Ⓒ 2023 by Nippon Institute for Research Advancement
This is a translation of a paper originally published in Japanese. NIRA bears full responsibility for the translation
presented here. Translated by Michael Faul.

11

NIRA OPINION PAPER
No. 64 | March 2023
satisfied (highest on a scale of 1 to 10). Dissatisfaction is also pronounced with regard to the unit
price of work (11% are not satisfied at all, while only 3% say they are very satisfied).
Figure 8: Satisfaction with gig work

This dissatisfaction can be understood from another perspective. The survey asked about the
remuneration desired from gig work by subjects who plan to do gig work and those who are only
registered with a matching service. Figure 9 shows the distribution of desired remuneration.
Desired annual remuneration averaged 1.63 million yen, which is about 140,000 yen higher
than the average annual remuneration of those who actually worked in gig work (1.49 millionyen). This suggests that while there is a certain amount of people who plan to do gig work, when
they actually do perform this type of work, their incomes are not as high as they desire.
Alternatively, they may not have started working even after registering with a matching service
because the remuneration or conditions of the work were not suitable or because there were notalways jobs available. The primary reason the use of gig work as a side job is not growing is thatthe actual remuneration for gig work is lower than expected.

Copyright Ⓒ 2023 by Nippon Institute for Research Advancement
This is a translation of a paper originally published in Japanese. NIRA bears full responsibility for the translation
presented here. Translated by Michael Faul.

12

NIRA OPINION PAPER
No. 64 | March 2023
Figure 9: Distribution of remuneration expected by workers who plan to or wish to
perform gig work

The low level of remuneration for gig work is also likely to lead to overwork. As mentioned above,
the incomes of the low- to middle-income strata have tended not to rise in recent years, andthese groups have been severely impacted by rising prices. To the extent that they fall into thesegroups, this may lead workers to engage in gig work in the future. Gig work can be done easily
and on a one-time basis, and it therefore has considerable appeal as a method of supporting
one's lifestyle amidst the harsh realities of the current economy. However, if this situation is
ongoing, it is possible that a certain number of people will be forced to work impossible hours inorder to earn sufficient remuneration. Another problem is that the companies for which people
work in their main jobs do not value their skills sufficiently and do not guarantee an adequate
income.
A second reason for the lack of growth in the use of gig work as a side job is that many companies
do not allow side or concurrent employment. In the fourth stage of the “Questionnaire Survey
on the Effects of the Spread of COVID-19 on Telework-based Work Styles, Lifestyle, andAwareness,” respondents were asked about the status of their employers with regard to therealization of diverse work styles, including side or concurrent jobs. Only 13% of respondents
answered that their companies were “Very much” or “Somewhat” in favor of side or concurrent
employment, while 33% answered “Not very” or “Not at all” (Figure 10). Incidentally, for otheritems, the percentage of positive responses was much higher, and the percentage of negative
responses was lower. For example, 28% of all respondents responded positively that their work
environment offered a good work-life balance, while 20% responded negatively. With regard to
the employment of women by their companies, 27% of subjects responded positively. From this,it can be seen that relatively few companies have a positive attitude towards side or concurrent
employment.
Copyright Ⓒ 2023 by Nippon Institute for Research Advancement
This is a translation of a paper originally published in Japanese. NIRA bears full responsibility for the translation
presented here. Translated by Michael Faul.

13

NIRA OPINION PAPER
No. 64 | March 2023

Figure 10: Priorities of respondents’ companies, organizations, etc. (as of April 2021)

Compared to the promotion of female employment and the improvement of work-life balance, asignificantly higher percentage of companies take a negative view of side/concurrent jobs. Of
course, it is understandable that companies are reluctant to allow their employees to work side
or concurrent jobs because of the possibility that they will neglect their main job or that a conflictof interest will arise. However, workers employed by companies are also consumers. If very
convenient services provided by the gig economy spread further throughout society, consumers
will be able to enjoy the benefits of these services and lead richer lives, and workers themselves
will be able to work more efficiently. As a result, companies will also benefit from increased
productivity. Companies will also need to be creative in lifting their prohibitions on side jobs,
even partially, for example by limiting them to jobs that can be expected to have a synergistic
effect with the worker’s main job.
The third reason that gig work has not been more extensively used to provide side jobs is theasymmetry of information in matching services and the institutional design of the market.
Because gig work involves one-time jobs with no contract, workers may find it difficult to receive
remuneration commensurate with their abilities. On matching services, skilled workers seek
high remuneration but withdraw from the service when they are not offered the type of job thatthey desire due to other workers filling the position for lower wages; alternatively, they may finda satisfactory client, develop a long-term relationship and then withdraw from the service. If
this is the case, only low-skilled workers prepared to take on work at a lower price will remain.
As a result, customers seeking high-quality services will no longer use matching services. If thisCopyright Ⓒ 2023 by Nippon Institute for Research Advancement
This is a translation of a paper originally published in Japanese. NIRA bears full responsibility for the translation
presented here. Translated by Michael Faul.

14

NIRA OPINION PAPER
No. 64 | March 2023
trend goes to an extreme, it will be a case of “bad money driving out good,” in other words, thequality of services may decline and the market become untenable. The one-off nature of gig work
can also easily lead to problems, such as gig workers not completing the job as expected or,conversely, clients making excessive demands.
The nature of gig work in Japan is becoming increasingly diverse, and it is difficult to determine
its actual value in the market. For example, the term “domestic tasks” encompasses a wide
range of tasks, from simple housekeeping to garden maintenance, dog walking, repairs,organizing/cleaning up, assistance with computer operation, handyman-like work, and proxy
work. Naturally, the operators of matching services employ a variety of measures to prevent
problems, and the problems pointed to above have thus far not manifested themselves.
Incidentally, the surveys have also asked about the level of satisfaction of gig workers with theirrelationship with the operators of matching services (specifically, response to problems andfulfillment of contracts), and half of the respondents (about 46%) were neither dissatisfied nor
satisfied; 8% were very dissatisfied, and 5% were very satisfied. These results suggest that there
is still room for improvement in the design of the system related to gig work. If institutional
design is not carefully conducted utilizing knowledge of economics, including microeconomics(e.g., contract theory) and behavioral economics, we may face severe problems in the future.

6. Conclusion
This paper has discussed the use of gig work to provide a second job based on the results of a
Questionnaire Survey on the Effects of the Spread of COVID-19 on Telework-based Work Styles,
Lifestyle, and Awareness. Gig work is rapidly attracting attention in the wake of recent slow
income growth and increasing prices. Although many workers are interested in using gig work
to provide a side job, the remuneration for this type of work is not high, and it is a type of workthat seems to be limited to supplementing income from the worker’s main job. Furthermore,
many respondents are dissatisfied with the remuneration for gig work. The current situation isthat workers are doing “backward-looking gig work” because they have no choice. This may be
due to the fact that companies do not adequately value the skills of their employees, and lackthe motivation to increase productivity and improve wages. In order to increase “forwardlooking gig work,” it will be essential that companies become more open to their employees
having side jobs, appropriately value the skills of their employees, and guarantee adequate
wages.

Copyright Ⓒ 2023 by Nippon Institute for Research Advancement
This is a translation of a paper originally published in Japanese. NIRA bears full responsibility for the translation
presented here. Translated by Michael Faul.

15

NIRA OPINION PAPER
No. 64 | March 2023
As noted above, the gig economy can provide consumers with tremendous benefits by making avariety of new services available at affordable prices. A variety of lifestyle services will beespecially important in Japan, where there is an insufficient labor force, the birthrate is
declining and the population is aging, and couples are increasingly both engaged in theworkforce. The enhancement of such services will ultimately lead to increased productivity forcompanies. There are numerous issues to be addressed in the systems that allow matching of
one-off jobs on the Internet, such as system design issues. It will be necessary to discuss theseissues comprehensively in the future, and to design systems that make use of knowledge of
economics.

Copyright Ⓒ 2023 by Nippon Institute for Research Advancement
This is a translation of a paper originally published in Japanese. NIRA bears full responsibility for the translation
presented here. Translated by Michael Faul.

16

NIRA OPINION PAPER
No. 64 | March 2023

Table 1: Occupations and Types of Gig Work

Copyright Ⓒ 2023 by Nippon Institute for Research Advancement
This is a translation of a paper originally published in Japanese. NIRA bears full responsibility for the translation
presented here. Translated by Michael Faul.

17

NIRA OPINION PAPER
No. 64 | March 2023

Note
In addition to the author, the survey and data analysis were conducted by Kiwamu Kato, Senior
Architect, Future Corporation, and Atsushi Inoue, Kozue Sekijima, and Sosuke Suzuki of the Nippon
Institute for Research Advancement.
1 General Secretariat for Japan’s Economic Revitalization, Cabinet Secretariat, (2020), Fureeransu
jittai chousa kekka “Survey of Status of Freelance Workers“ (in Japanese; accessed February 13,2023)
2 Average values were calculated based on a figure of 13 hours per day if 13 hours or more were
worked per day.
3 When limited to those who have never done gig work but plan or hope to do so, the desired frequencyof gig work averaged 47% for once a month, 32% for once a month to once a week, 17% for 2 to 4 daysa week, and 4% for 5 or more days a week, with an average desired time per day of 3.7 hours,
indicating that the desired workload is lower than the workload for those actually performing gig
work.

Toshihiro Okubo
Toshihiro Okubo is a Professor in Keio University’s Faculty of Economics, and a
Senior Adjunct Fellow with the Nippon Institute for Research Advancement(NIRA). He holds a Master's degree from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. inInternational Relations and Economics from the University of Geneva and the
Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies. Professor Okubo
specializes in international economics and spatial economics.

Copyright Ⓒ 2023 by Nippon Institute for Research Advancement
This is a translation of a paper originally published in Japanese. NIRA bears full responsibility for the translation
presented here. Translated by Michael Faul.

18