Dive Brief:

• Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) is testing a new mobile app for gig workers, according to The Wall Street Journal.
• The yet-to-be-named app would help gig workers do things like calculate taxes and take care of numerous other tasks normally handled by traditional employers.
• Don Weinstein, ADP’s chief strategy officer, said the app was launched in ADP’s innovation lab and is now being tested by about a dozen gig workers.

Dive Insight:

The app would be the first product ADP has marketed directly to consumers. The company typically sells its software and services to businesses. But because the gig economy is expected to see significant growth in the next several years, ADP wants to make sure it gets a piece of the action. The Freelancer’s Union estimates about 55 million people currently work as freelancers in the U.S.

This comes at a time when almost half of CIOs are expected to employ gig workers in 2016, according to CIO Executive Council estimates. IT leadership can capitalize on gig, or contract, workers because it allows for temporary hires to finish specific projects rather than keeping them on as permanent employees. 

The move is an interesting example of how an innovation lab project might help a business rethink its traditional strategies and move the company in new, and potentially profitable, directions.