The “Sharing Economy” and the Impact on Workers Compensation

This PowerPoint report, presented at the Workers Compensation Research Institute’s annual conference, explores how the Sharing (On-Demand or ‘Gig’) Economy will transform the American workforce and by extension, the P/C insurance industry too. This trend will impact many segments of the economy important to P/C insurers such as auto, homeowners/renters, liability coverages, professional liability and workers compensation and will lead to new questions. Although many of these have already been addressed, some regulatory issues remain. Also discussed are what is in store in for the American labor market and workers compensation industry and presents both optimistic and pessimistic points of view on potential outcomes. Also addressed is how this trend affects Wall Street, and an Uber case study. The presentation concludes with a look at robots and automation, and closes with an exploration of the Internet of Things and its impact on the insurance industry, including a discussion of wearable devices, including ingestibles and implantable virtual reality devices.