Claire Kramer-Mills, Assistant Vice President and Community Affairs Officer

There’s no question that Latino-owned small businesses are critical to U.S. economic success. After all, Latino entrepreneurs have the highest growth rate of all ethnic groups in the United States, and Latino-owned businesses are responsible for hundreds of billions of dollars in sales annually. Despite these successes, many Latino-owned small businesses lack the financing necessary to grow.

Bárbara J. Robles and Marysol McGee, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

In the fourth quarter of 2015, the Federal Reserve Board conducted a nationally representative survey of adults 18 and older to track online and offline income-generating activities as well as their employment status during the six months prior to the surveys. The Enterprising and Informal Work Activity (EIWA) survey explores why individuals undertake alternative work arrangements by asking questions that capture participant motives and attitudes towards informal offline and online paid work activities.

James Sherk

The gig economy remains fairly small — for now. Both RAND and JPMorgan Chase find that only about 0.5 percent of Americans earn labor income through gig platforms. However, this form of work is growing quickly. The JPMorgan analysts also reported that the number of Americans working in the gig economy grew by more than a factor of 50 between 2012 and 2015. The most prominent gig economy company — Uber — has quadrupled in size in less than two years. Uber grew from 160,000 active driver-partners in December 2014 to over 680,000 in September 2016.

Jack Gutt, Head of Communications and Outreach

How we work, where we work, and what we do. The answers to these questions are rapidly evolving and those responsible for supporting the workforce need to understand all facets of this evolution.

Sara Horowitz

Tomorrow, Freelancers Union, with the New York Fed and Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, will host Evolution of Work. This event will bring together diverse leaders from industry, labor, government, academia, and the social sector to explore how work is evolving, the size and impact of the gig economy, and policy to support the next workforce.