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Hello and welcome to the programme.

We are in the very early stages of a turbulent period in the labour market.

COVID is killing jobs.

We can see that all around us.

It's also creating a few.

We can see sectors that are extra busy right now.

But is it having another effect on today's workers, boosting

the work done in the insecure parts of the economy? New jobs for self-employed van drivers,

fewer secure jobs for employed airline pilots. COVID and the gig economy, that's our topic today. Is the pandemic a spur to a world

of temps and zero-hour contracts, a workforce not built on long-term relationships with their employer,

but on day-to-day transactions? We'll examine the best and worst of it with my guests shortly,

but before we hear from them, let us hear from someone working in a less secure arrangement

in a business which is booming under COVID-19.

I spoke to Ed Cross, who's been a self-employed courier for 24 years,

since well before it was fashionable.

He told me about his average day.

I'm a career for Hermes, self-employed, which means I receive parcels to my home from

Hermes on the morning. I then sought, scanned them, ready for delivery. I load them in my own

van, which is my own personal vehicle. And then I have a set round,

which is actually in Whitby, North Yorkshire, and I go door-to-door delivering parcels to Hermey's

customers on behalf of their clients. How many parcels does a courier do in a day?

...