> Despite all the issues with the current situation, there are still a lot of obvious benefits that these workers do get like the ability to set their own hours, not having to work exactly 40 hours every week, and being able to work on multiple platforms.
None of those are linked to being an employee or contractor.
I think they are in some cases. An employee can forbid you from working for a competitor at the same time, for example. This is usually a good thing - e.g. Apple doesn't want their Siri engineers moonlighting on the Alexa team after hours. I don't think contractors can be subject to the same sweeping restrictions.
I believe for employees paid by the hour, the employer can also dictate the number of hours per week and even the specific schedule.
Employers have much more control over their employees -- that's at the heart of the contractor-employee distinction.
I am not "the company", just a spectator that is observing what companies are actually doing in practice.
Yes, companies could always choose to give employees better perks out of the goodness of their heart. That's not really relevant, what's relevant is what they're actually doing. And if a company like Uber were to pay all the extra overhead to bring on all drivers as full-time employees, it would be crazy for them not to set their hours much more tightly so they would absolutely do that.
None of those are linked to being an employee or contractor.