Providence, R.I. • When her paychecks dried up because of the partial government shutdown, Cheryl Inzunza Blum sought out a side job that has become a popular option in the current economy: She rented out a room on Airbnb.
Other government workers are driving for Uber, relying on word-of-mouth and social networks to find handyman work and looking for traditional temp gigs to help pay the bills during the longest shutdown in U.S. history.
The hundreds of thousands of out-of-work government employees have more options than in past shutdowns given the rise of the so-called "gig economy" that has made an entire workforce out of people doing home vacation rentals and driving for companies like Uber, Lyft and Postmates.