How is the gig economy going to affect scientific research?
There are lots of scientists in the wilderness — that point where you are tired of doing postdocs and you question what you’re doing. The gig economy can be one way to find a path, by providing an income stream while you figure stuff out. It can help you realize what marketable skills you have. It can give you time to mourn the loss of a job in academia that you thought you were going to have but that never really existed. And it helps to expand your network into places that would be interested in your skill set, such as the technology community. Eventually, you realize you can leave academia without leaving research.
Needull in a haystack 