The current global health crisis has created an unusual and unprecedented divide in the labor market. Now there are Essential and Non-Essential workers and businesses. What defines one and the other is not always a black and white situation… and the lists seem to change almost daily. While the furor over what business can and can't open, one thing is uncontested… BOTH need workers… on the frontlines now and in the bullpen ready to step in when a non-essential category again become essential. The GIG economy is poised to come to the rescue here. In fact it looks like it will continue to grow not in spite of the crisis, but because of the situation business are in. A recent article in CNBC said: "there is a demand for people on the frontlines, particularly in health and online retail. Also as restaurants reopen there will be major staffing issues that the GIG economy can solve.  The article continued: "Laid-off workers should look to industries in which the pandemic has placed increased demand for workers, like health care and delivery services," said Irina Novoselsky, the CEO of Career Builder. "Also, the retailers that are open — like supermarkets and hardware stores — are in need of more staff to manage long lines and to replace those who can't or won't work due to health concerns," she said. "This is not surprising given the increased demand for delivery services, and that consumers are stocking up and making bigger purchases at grocery and big box stores," Novoselsky said.    Active companies in the markets this week include ShiftPixy, Inc. (NASDAQ: PIXY), Grubhub Inc. (NYSE: GRUB), Slack Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: WORK), Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: UBER), Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ: LYFT).

As for the jobs with the most openings, registered nurses, truck drivers, customer service representatives, drivers with a commercial license and software engineers are all needed, CareerBuilder found.  Gig employment is ramping up in a few key areas to support those essential services, according to an industry report. One insider said: "In a time when people are struggling to make ends meet and wondering when things will return to normal, temporary work can help to bridge employment gaps while serving the greater good. For furloughed workers looking for a temporary paycheck, some of the most in-demand jobs are for warehouse workers, cleaners, stockers and truck unloaders for grocery stores and pharmacies…"

ShiftPixy, Inc. (NASDAQ: PIXY) BREAKING NEWS:  Del Taco Franchisee Partners with ShiftPixy to Combat COVID-19 – ShiftPixy announced a partnership with Diamondback DTNM, LLC (DBA Del Taco), operator of 11 Del Taco restaurants in the Albuquerque, NM area, to comprehensively implement ShiftPixy's disruptive platform across all locations in the face of the Coronavirus pandemic. The Del Taco franchisee is leveraging ShiftPixy's end-to-end platform for human capital management and native delivery.

"The upheaval from COVID-19 has forced restaurants to re-think their approach to customers, employees and third-party alliances.  The folks at Diamondback understood that ShiftPixy was uniquely positioned to help solve critical issues forced on operators but also as leverage to thrive beyond the current crisis," said Scott Absher, CEO and co-founder of ShiftPixy. "With the ShiftPixy platform, John Bissell and his team were able to quickly and effectively revamp their infrastructure to deploy native delivery, allowing them to focus on delivering a great food experience while also keeping the commissions they were losing and better engaging with their customers."

With restaurants across the country facing unparalleled obstacles and forced to dramatically adapt, ShiftPixy recently announced its Restaurant Resilience Plan to give operators access to technology and services vital to their survival and ideal for once business reopens.

"We were already dissatisfied with our legacy providers, and like many other restaurant operators, the pandemic forced us to make integral choices quickly. ShiftPixy offered us the perfect mix of control and services to weather the storm," said John Bissell, VP and COO of Diamondback. "We've saved significant time and capital and have elevated employee engagement. The native delivery solution, which we think is simply amazing, has allowed us to access customers we would not have otherwise reached while maintaining control of our brand."

Once the largest Denny's franchisee with 94 stores in their system, Dennis Ekstrom, former COO of QT and now CEO & President and John's partner at Diamondback added, "ShiftPixy's first to market solution is solving major human capital and customer engagement challenges in the restaurant industry.  Leadership across the restaurant industry should make this brave and smart move now, to not just survive today but to maximize their unit economics once the current crisis passes."