We start with uber, the taxi giant has been branching out into everything from food delivery to electric bike hire and later today, its launching this uber works an app that puts casual workers in touch with employers. It will allow say a waiter or a cleaner to compare pay rates and conditions and sign up for shifts. The system will start on a trial basis in chicago. Uber works is designed to cash in on the massive growth in freelance working via digital platforms, known as the gig economy. Nobody really knows how big it is, but according to estimates by Staffing Industry Analysts it was worth 4. 5 trillion globally last year. To put that in perspective, in the us, 53 Million People did some kind of freelance work last year, often on top of a regularjob. That equates to more than a third of the workforce. If it keeps growing at the current rate, more than half will be freelance within a decade. According to deloittes survey of millennials, or people in their 20s and 30s, almost two thirds of those in full time work would also look for ways of earning money on the side or side hustles. It hasnt been without controversy, though. Regulations around the world are being tightened to give more protection to gig workers. But some are still concerned about the trend, as britains top trade union boss told the Bbcs Newsnight programme earlier this year. Today we have nearly 4 Million People on insecure and low paid work, like bogus self employment is zero hours contracts. Unions are all in favour of flexibility. Many of us have brought up kids and needed flexibility at work, but it has to bea flexibility at work, but it has to be a 2 way street and the problem is all the power currently is in the bosss hand and workers dont have a fair voice. Andy cooney is commercial director at Digital Marketing agency croud. Welcome and thanks for coming in. Thank you for having me. Why are uber branching out into this area, is ita uber branching out into this area, is it a natural progression for them . If you look at the core business, ridesharing, it is fiercely competitive with low barriers for entry, low differentiation, and thats amounted to billions of dollars a quarter of losses but looking out over as a technology platform, its about connecting the consumer with someone supplying a service. Either drivers and people looking for a ride or uber eats, restaurants, and someone looking for something to eat. As you previously said, its a Huge Industry and its only growing. This is their move into a new industry that uses the same technology they have developed to match people looking forjobs have developed to match people looking for jobs with have developed to match people looking forjobs with people looking for staff. Would you use it, because your company uses a lot of gig workers . We have built a Marketing Agency that essentially uses a number of in house staff, but that supplemented by skills we wouldnt have internally so marketing has diverse skills in it that we need to, you know, use on occasion for oui to, you know, use on occasion for our clients and we basically built a pool of on demand experts that we can pool of on demand experts that we ca n a ccess pool of on demand experts that we can access through our technology. We find that model works. We can work with specialists when we need to. They set their own rates and there quite well paid. It works for both of us they are quite well paid. We like the model and we think it is something more companies will adapt in the future. What about regulation, its a massive issue in the industry, that uber drivers dont have the rights regular employees do and its an issue slowly governments are catching up with. The state of california introduced legislation and the eur on the case as well. Does this open up on the case as well. Does this open up another headache for uber potentially . The eu are on the case as well. Potentially. States are only catching up right now and when you get a disruptive uber, ten yea rs when you get a disruptive uber, ten years ago it wasnt a thing, it ta kes a years ago it wasnt a thing, it takes a while for legislators to catch up and make sure protections are in place so thats whats happening now. It will need to be considered by governments, regulatory bodies, and looked at. The benefits for workers of being able to be flexible. Side hustle as you mentioned, or they might be transitioning into retirement and travelling, all sorts of reasons for doing this, and the flexibility lots of people want is attractive but it has to work for everyone. Andy cooney, great to get your thoughts. Thanks forjoining us from Digital Marketing agency croud. Thanks. Lets go to india now, where in the next two hours, the central bank is widely expected to cut Interest Rates again. It will be the fifth cut in a row, as the country battles the weakest Economic Conditions in years. But will it do any good . Heres jagdip cheema in mumbai. The reserve bank of india is widely expected to cut Interest Rates by 0. 25 when it makes its announcement early on friday morning. That would leave the overall Interest Rate hovering just above 5 . Another reduction would make it five consecutive rate cuts in a row, but many are questioning whether these cuts are actually having any effect. Thats because some of the previous cuts havent been passed onto consumers indias commercial banks. With the countrys economy recording its slowest growth in six years in the second quarter, the central bank is under pressure to respond. Close attention will also be placed on whether the rbi lowers its growth forecast for 2019. The last projection of 6. 9 could be lowered. However, with inflation still below the central bank 4 target, it gives the central bank 4 target, it gives the reserve bank of india some room to manoeuvre. Jagdip cheema, bbc news, mumbai. Lets stay in india, where Business Leaders are gathered in the capital delhi for the World Economic forum. As well as a weakening global economy, tensions over trade are dominating discussions. There are hopes the us and india can sort out their differences over trade, after President Trump removed indias preferential trading status earlier this year, complaining of unfair levels of import tariffs. Suranjana tewari is at the forum, where you have been hearing from the us commerce secretary wilbur ross . Thats right, theres been a lot of focus on the talks over trade and the tensions with the us commerce secretary wilbur ross sharing a stage with his indian counterpart. They traded some pleasant barbs over trade with wilbur ross saying india is the most rejectionist if not the most protectionist country in the world. His opposite and returned said they were discussing a limited trade deal thats likely to regard pharmaceutical products and maybe dairy, but theres still no news about that. Wants the focus at the summit is indias slowdown. As we heard, india is going at its slowest rate in six years and many Business Leaders are saying the government hasnt gone far enough, introducing Corporate Tax cuts a few weeks ago, and businesses are saying that will provide some stimulus but more needs to be done with regard to tax cut rates, with reform in land and labour, and also some saying start ups need a boost because innovation needs to come from those businesses to try to revive the economy. For now, thank you. Now lets brief you on some other business stories. Personal computer maker hp says its cutting between 7,000 and 9,000 jobs worldwide, or as much as 16 of its workforce. It says the cuts will save a billion dolars a year by 2022. The companys printer business, a main source of its profits, has seen falling sales. Its been described by one analyst as a melting ice cube. Uk retail giantjohn lewis is seeking discounts from its landlords to cut costs. The bbc has learned that it has been telling Property Owners in some locations that it will withhold 20 of this quarters service charge. The highly unusual move highlights the huge pressures on retailers, but could seejohn lewis facing legal action. Whats trending in the Business News this morning . 0n cnbc it says reports ofjob cuts have increased at an alarming rate over the last couple of months, with companies from uber to citigroup to nissan cutting staff in the us. 0n blooomberg the thai currency is the worlds top performer against the dollar over the past five years, piling pressure on the many foreigners who have retired there. And quartz looks at how apples tim cook has pushed ceo activism into uncharted territory by going to court in support of young undocumented migrants. And dont forget, let us know what you are spotting online. Use the hashtag bbcthebriefing. Thats it for the Business Briefing this hour, but before we go, here are the markets a pretty mixed bag. Asian stocks edging higher thanks to gains on wall street, but the mood is cautious before a key usjob report. Will have the news briefing foi you i will have the news briefing for you next. Bye for now. Scotland has become the first nation in the uk to make it a criminal offence for pa rents to smack their children. Msps voted almost three to one for the move, which will come into force in about a years time. Across the rest of the uk, parents are still allowed to use whats called reasonable physical force. Lorna gordon has more. At the moment, parents and carers are allowed to use reasonable physicalfall to are allowed to use reasonable physical fall to discipline their children. This bill will mean smacking a child will become illegal here in scotland no matter what the circumstances. It will give children the same protection as adults. Into thousand two, an attempt to ban smacking in scotland proved so controversial it had to be abandoned. Not this time round, though, and campaigners believe it will make a real difference in protecting children. This law makes it clear physical punishment isnt acceptable and its symbolic as much as anything, this isa symbolic as much as anything, this is a message to society, a message to our children to say your rights are to our children to say your rights a re really to our children to say your rights are really important and you dont deserve to be physically punished. 0pponents deserve to be physically punished. Opponents of the legislation voted through at holyrood believe its an intervention to far. Its very dangerous i think. We already have laws in this country that outlaw beating your child. What this law does is criminalise the slightest smack, so if you smack a child on the hand like that, that will be a criminal offence. This has been described as an historic vote. And the children equal action from assault scotland bill is passed. And while there are moves to try to bring ina and while there are moves to try to bring in a ban on smoking in wales, england and Northern Ireland have no plans for such legislation. Its expected to be a year before the law in scotland comes into force, sending the message that violence among children is never acceptable. Lorna gordon, bbc news. Breakfast is coming up at 6am with Naga Munchetty and charlie stayt. This is the briefing from bbc news. The latest headlines talks on Prime Minister Boris Johnsons brexit plan continue as critics in europe and ireland say they fall short in a number of aspects. President trump has urged another foreign country, china, to launch an investigation into his democrat rivaljoe biden and his son. Searching for a motive French Police confirm that the man who killed four colleagues at the Police Headquarters in paris was a convert to islam. We start with the ft who say eu leaders have warned borisjohnson that they have deep concerns over his new brexit proposals as the uk Prime Minister insisted that he had made a genuine attempt to bridge the chasm between the two sides. The guardian business pages report britain has edged closer to its first recession since the financial crisis after the dominant Service Sector unexpectedly plunged into contraction last month. Meanwhile the telegraph looks at the ongoing trade dispute between the us and eu after the whisky industry reacted angrily to plans by Donald Trumps administration to impose a 25 trade tariff. The move comes as the World Trade Organization gave the us the green light on to impose tariffs on up to 7. 5 billion of goods in retaliation over european subsidies given to the aviation giant airbus. In the times, campaigners have lost a significant legal battle against the governments handling of the rise in womens state pension age. The retirement age for women rose from 60 65, in line with men, and will go up to 66 by 2020, and to 67 by 2028. And finally, on the mail 0nline website, giving up facebook makes people less depressed, more productive and better with money, a us study of thousands of young social media users has found. In addition, the team also found that quitting facebook caused people to consume less news but also reduced their awareness of fake and non mainstream news. Lets get more on these stories. With me is simoney kyriakou, whos editor of Financial Adviser at the financial times. Welcome back. Lets start with the financial times. The eu doubts over brexit, they were cautious at first, now hearing the new news, they are more and more negative. Its no surprise that people are very worried in europe about the creation of these two borders instead of the controversial backstop that was originally proposed under the may government. It is unsurprising. People dont want to be policing the borders. We had yesterday from a former chief of police that said he doesnt want to see his patrolmen having to patrol
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