Employee Spotlight: Daniel Altman, Chief Economist

Our mission at Instawork is to create economic opportunities for local businesses and professionals, globally. In order to achieve that mission, we have built a team composed of talented and hard-working individuals who are passionate about connecting skilled hourly professionals with local businesses who need their services.

Our Employee Spotlight series takes the opportunity to highlight members of our team and to give a glimpse into our culture and what it’s like to work at Instawork. To highlight the diversity of our team, we’ve asked Daniel Altman, Chief Economist, to share more about his experience working at Instawork.

What do you do at Instawork and how long have you been with the company?

I lead our Economic Research division, helping to improve our internal processes and also producing insights about the labor market that we can share with the world. I joined Instawork in January.

What initially attracted you to Instawork?

For many years I’ve wanted to see two big changes in the labor market: (1) a level playing field where access to opportunities is determined more by your effort and talent, and less by your resources and background; and (2) a restoration of bargaining power to workers, whose share of national income dropped for decades until recently.

Instawork’s marketplace is a meritocratic platform where Pros and Partners rate each other on the quality of their working experience. And by offering Pros more opportunities than they’ve ever had before, we allow them to pick and choose the options that maximize their income and wellbeing. I think we’re changing the labor market for the better.

What's your favorite part of your job?

I love the fact that the more our company grows, the more economic opportunities we’re creating – and I love being able to tell my kids that’s what we’re doing.

What is one piece of “work from home” equipment you couldn’t live without?

If we’re taking things like a computer for granted, I would say my home office’s window. I appreciate having natural light all day.

What's the most important thing you've learned since starting at Instawork?

I could say the idiosyncrasies of SQL syntax on Redshift... but really it’s everything I’ve learned about the needs of in-person hourly workers: flexibility, communication, childcare, transportation, etc. The more we understand the things they need to succeed, the better we can serve them.