Skip to main content

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

The Impact of the On-Demand Economy, as Told Through Mary Meeker Slides

The on-demand economy offers the flexibility millennials want, but getting them the benefits they need is another story.

Asa Mathat for Re/code

In the new on-demand economy you can get whatever you want whenever you want it, except, perhaps, a full-time job with health care coverage.

You can get groceries from Instacart, lunch from Munchery and other goods from Instacart, but society has yet to catch up to how quickly labor and the workplace is being transformed.

20150527 Mary meeker On demand 1

The good news is that the next generation of workers isn’t expecting the kind of stability that earlier generations have taken as the norm. They see the neighborhood coffee shop as their office, have no expectation of standard work hours and are far more willing to take on freelance tasks, according to several studies cited by Kleiner Perkins’ Mary Meeker in her annual state of the Internet economy talk at Code Conference.

A fifth of millennials are self-described “night owls” and a third imagine a work life of largely flexible hours.

“Jobs and work have evolved,” Meeker said. “The job market has been more difficult and work has been harder to find for many.”

20150527 Mary Meeker Millenials workforce

There’s also a significant gap between how millennial workers view themselves and how their bosses see the youngest generation of the workforce (which incidentally is now the largest segment of workers).

As for which segments of the economy are being changed most rapidly, Meeker advises to follow the money.

On average, Americans spend $17,000, or a third of their income, on housing, with 18 percent ($9,000) spent on transportation and 14 percent ($7,000) spent on food.

In addition, Meeker noted that these are also categories where the incumbents aren’t widely liked by consumers.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

More in Technology

Podcasts
Are humanoid robots all hype?Are humanoid robots all hype?
Podcast
Podcasts

AI is making them better — but they’re not going to be doing your chores anytime soon.

By Avishay Artsy and Sean Rameswaram
Future Perfect
The old tech that could help stop the next airborne pandemicThe old tech that could help stop the next airborne pandemic
Future Perfect

Glycol vapors, explained.

By Shayna Korol
Future Perfect
Elon Musk could lose his case against OpenAI — and still get what he wantsElon Musk could lose his case against OpenAI — and still get what he wants
Future Perfect

It’s not about who wins. It’s about the dirty laundry you air along the way.

By Sara Herschander
Life
Why banning kids from AI isn’t the answerWhy banning kids from AI isn’t the answer
Life

What kids really need in the age of artificial intelligence.

By Anna North
Culture
Anthropic owes authors $1.5B for pirating work — but the claims process is a Kafkaesque messAnthropic owes authors $1.5B for pirating work — but the claims process is a Kafkaesque mess
Culture

“Your AI monster ate all our work. Now you’re trying to pay us off with this piece of garbage that doesn’t work.”

By Constance Grady
Future Perfect
Some deaf children are hearing again because of a new gene therapySome deaf children are hearing again because of a new gene therapy
Future Perfect

A medical field that almost died is quietly fixing one disease at a time.

By Bryan Walsh