Gigs Not Jobs

Original: Gigs Not Jobs

Submitted by Dmitri Davydov on Sat, 2009-08-08 09:11.

Posted in: Crazy Money

Link of the day - I will pay you $25, if you come up with a cool domain name for me.

Maureen Russell has three gigs. Hillary Skye works four. And George Peele? He juggles at least five.

All of these Front Rangers are fully engaged with an economy that has become stingy with full-time jobs. To make ends meet, they balance part-time gigs. Economists and others who wrestle with employment issues have dubbed the trend "gigonomics."

"I was a river guide, but tourism is slow," said Alyssa Berry, 28, of Lakewood.

"I'm painting people's houses. I've been raking leaves for three days now. Helping people clean up. Whatever someone will pay me to do, I'm doing. Dog sitting."

There is no question more people are working part-time jobs today than when the recession started in December 2007. According to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, the er skills.

"It was really scary," said Russell, 36, of Denver.

But she also felt empowered. "I knew it was up to me to make more work happen."

She picked up a gig as a contractor for

a nonprofit in Boulder. She found freelance writing jobs. She did some public relations, helping a local purse manufacturer and a Pilates studio spread the word. She even took a retail job at a Cherry Creek furniture store.

The experience has wha t self-promotion. Like other gig