The Precariat...Is this the future of work?

Is this what work is coming to? --- A new class of workers---The “precariat,” workers who perform ad hoc single "gig" jobs in which labor brokers encourage people to work on contingency without basic employment benefits or protections. The companies essentially channel one-off tasks to the fastest taker or lowest bidder, pitting workers against one another in a kind of labor elimination match. Such workers perform a variety of jobs, not knowing whether they will be called, or if they are called, what they will be asked to do in the next hour, never mind for the rest of the day or week! This is the supreme level of insecurity without any job guarantee what-so-ever!
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/17/technology/in-the-sharing-economy-workers-find-both-freedom-and-uncertainty.html?emc=edit_th_20140817&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=65437433