What is the future of app-based work? Shipt is having a say in it – AL.com

Some of the biggest disruptors in the tech economy - after transforming the way America does business - are now turning to a very old idea: a trade organization.

And Birminghams Shipt is one of its founding members.

Back in March, some of the heavy hitters in the app economy formed Flex, an organization advocating for workers, consumers, businesses, and other sectors of the app-based economy. Along with Shipt, other member companies include DoorDash, Gopuff, Grubhub, HopSkipDrive, Instacart, Lyft, Shipt, and Uber.

The leaders of Flex - CEO Kristin Sharp, and Board Chairman Steve Benjamin - were in Birmingham this week to meet with Shipt officials and shoppers. They came away with some definite impressions.

For Sharp, a policy figure with a background in technology, innovation, and national security, her main takeaway was enthusiasm.

People want control over when, where and how they work, Sharp said. But we are seeing how it impacts peoples lives.

That means conversations with Shipt shoppers who work around education schedules for their special needs children, or watch over parents with health conditions, or want more self-determination, she said.

Benjamin, the former mayor of Columbia, S.C., said one focus of Flex is maintaining independent work for shoppers, Uber drivers, and DoorDash deliverers. That includes people like three Shipt shoppers he came in contact with in Birmingham.

We spent time with some Shipt shoppers and met some really cool people, he said. That was probably the most enjoyable part of the day, just hearing from three ladies who are fundamentally entrepreneurs, who believe in hard work, in financial independence, but feel very strongly about flexible work.

The COVID-19 pandemic, with its emphasis on social distancing, prompted an explosion in platforms like Shipt. Flex represents roughly 52 million workers and a sector of the economy contributing about $348 billion a year. But more than that, Sharp said, the mass layoffs of the COVID lockdown drove many to seek work among the app-based firms.

That kind of flexibility, weve heard from our shoppers, is really something that people want to continue doing, even as the threat of the pandemic is dissipating a bit, Sharp said.

One of Flexs aims is preserving the legal classification of app-based workers as independent contractors, rather than employees. According to Flex, app-based workers spend about eight hours a week on average using their platforms for work.

The new cry, quite frankly, is people want flexible work, Benjamin said. They want the autonomy to set their own financial futures in these platforms. Shipt is in the lead of creating some amazing opportunities for men and women across Alabama who feel very strongly about creating their own economic futures for their families.

This post was modified at 1:55 p.m. CST July 28 to correct the city where Steve Benjamin served as mayor.

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What is the future of app-based work? Shipt is having a say in it - AL.com