How to Support Gig Workers Through Inflation

From the rising costs of gas and groceries to bigger goals like buying a home, people are feeling the pinch of inflation just about everywhere. With the annual inflation rate climbing to 4.2% for the 12 months ending May 2026—its highest level since April 2023, driven largely by a sharp jump in energy and gas prices—workers are navigating tighter cash flow and looking for ways to steady their finances.

The companies and platforms they work for can play a big role here. Smart businesses know that supporting people through financial challenges can strengthen recruiting and retention efforts in a competitive labor market.

How to address the unique needs of gig workers

While it's true that people across every industry need support to cope with rising costs, gig workers in particular can benefit from workforce support. Independent contractors often don't receive the traditional financial benefits W-2 workers do, like retirement accounts or health insurance. And because contractors handle their own taxes, budgeting can become an even bigger hurdle.

How much your company can pay contractors during a period of inflation matters, of course. But there are also no-cost ways to support them. Here are a few ideas.

1. Support them with schedule flexibility and added earning potential

The contingent workforce keeps growing—as our State of Gig & Staffing Report found, it already makes up about 40% of the U.S. workforce and is projected to reach 50% by 2050.

Many of these workers are picking up additional shifts to offset rising costs. Instead of having them turn to another platform to make up the difference, you want to keep them engaged with you, confident they have the power to grow their earnings right where they already are. Make sure they can pick up extra shifts when they need to and earn additional income with you rather than somewhere else.

This kind of scheduling control matters deeply to gig workers because of the high value they place on flexibility—it's often why they choose contingent work over a traditional W-2 role in the first place. In the same report, workers pointed to freedom, flexibility, and the potential for greater earning power and financial resilience as key reasons they favor gig and staffing work.

2. Help them with budgeting and cash flow

For contractors, managing business expenses alongside personal ones can get complicated, especially when the two overlap (think of the delivery driver who uses their own car to make deliveries). That complexity adds up: in our Branch x Mastercard Solopreneur Report, 89% of independent workers cited financial management or access to capital as a major pain point, and most are still tracking it all manually—only about a third use basic accounting software. With two-thirds funding their ventures out of their own pockets, every dollar of clarity counts.

There are plenty of financial wellness tools you can offer your workforce, but the best ones help contractors manage their money at no added cost to them. At Branch, financial wellness tools are built right into the Branch App, including ways to help workers track spending, separate business and personal expenses, and see personalized insights. Helping your 1099 workforce budget with fee-free options is a great way to boost their financial wellness and even help them reinvest in their own small businesses as entrepreneurs.

3. Provide faster, more flexible pay

Across-the-board pay increases might not be in your budget right now, but changing the speed of pay can be meaningful on its own. In our Solopreneur Report, independent workers said the speed and reliability of their payments directly affects their ability to keep their businesses running and growing—no surprise when so many are funding day-to-day operations from personal savings.

If you're not yet offering earned wage access for your gig workforce, Branch can help. With our range of solutions, we help companies get earnings to contractors quickly—faster than a standard biweekly pay cycle, often the same day they work, and as early as day one. That steadies cash flow for your contractors while giving you an attractive benefit to recruit and retain more talent. And because it can come with fee-free options for your workforce and your business, it's a win for both.

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Want more insights on today's gig and staffing workforce? Download our State of Gig & Staffing Report.