UM-Flint's Institute for Technology & Society finds local gig workers want stronger pay and benefits protections

More than one in five Genesee County residents have engaged in gig work – short-term, flexible jobs, often arranged through a mobile app or online platform. While most report positive experiences, a new survey shows many are unhappy with their pay and want government policies to guarantee stronger earnings and benefits.

The findings come from a representative survey of Genesee County residents conducted in spring 2026 by the University of Michigan-Flint Institute for Society and Technology, in partnership with the University of Michigan's Michigan Metro Area Communities Study.

The IST studies the impact of technology on society, including the effects of technological change on institutions such as education, health care and the labor market. 

Researchers collected 1,021 completed surveys, roughly split evenly between city of Flint and county residents. Participants were contacted by mail, email and text message, and completed the nearly 25-minute questionnaire either online or by phone with an interviewer. The results are detailed in an IST research brief titled "Flexibility and Security: Gig Worker Needs and Aspirations in Flint and Genesee County," which represents the first analysis of the survey data.

The survey found that 67% of gig workers reported positive experiences with the work, a sign that flexible, independent arrangements continue to appeal to a significant share of the local labor force. But that satisfaction did not extend to compensation: 44% of gig workers said they were dissatisfied with the pay they received per job.

Additionally, the results showed that gig workers were far more likely than non-gig workers to report a desire to return to school for additional education or training. Nearly half were interested in more education, more than double the number of those who had not engaged in gig work.

That gap between how workers feel about the work itself and how they feel about what it pays showed up again in attitudes toward public policy. A majority of those surveyed said they would support new protections for gig workers, especially because such protections are not currently standard in most areas. 

Seventy percent of gig workers said they support minimum earnings guarantees, 63% support health insurance or premium subsidies for people who do gig work, and 61% said they support portable benefits — protections tied to the worker rather than to a single job or platform that could move with someone from gig to gig.

"This research represents one of the first representative studies of this growing labor market sector in Michigan," said Jacob Lederman, associate professor of sociology at UM-Flint and current IST director. "It examines the prevalence of gig work, its demographics, and implications for various educational and social mobility outcomes. At both the local and national levels, there is a lack of data on these workers."

Researchers said the survey was designed to fill that gap by looking not just at pay and benefits but at how gig work fits into workers' broader lives — including its role in household finances, whether people consider themselves part of the gig economy, their education and training histories, and their views on economic fairness and social mobility.

Mara Cecilia Ostfeld, a research associate professor of public policy at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, said the project builds on the Michigan Metro Area Communities Study's broader effort to survey communities statewide.

"Our research in Flint and Genesee County highlights our mission of partnering with different Michigan communities to shed light on their attitudes and beliefs on a range of issues," Ostfeld said. "This survey extends our research to the shifting labor market in the state, revealing some of the consequences of these changes for its residents."

Genesee County, anchored by the city of Flint, has weathered decades of economic upheaval tied to the decline of the auto industry. This makes the area an instructive site for IST researchers, inspiring them to conduct the first and only study on how local residents engage with the gig economy — ride-hailing, delivery platforms, freelance and contract work — as one way to adapt to a changing labor market. National studies have found similar patterns: workers value flexibility while expressing concern about income volatility and a lack of access to employer-sponsored benefits, but the UM-Flint survey offers one of the first detailed local looks at how those national trends play out in the Flint area.

More information on the survey and the full research brief is available on the IST webpage.