IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/intlab/v161y2022i3p413-440.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Stripping back the mask: Working conditions on digital labour platforms during the COVID‐19 pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Kelle HOWSON
  • Funda USTEK‐SPILDA
  • Alessio BERTOLINI
  • Richard HEEKS
  • Fabian FERRARI
  • Srujana KATTA
  • Matthew COLE
  • Pablo AGUERA RENESES
  • Nancy SALEM
  • David SUTCLIFFE
  • Shelly STEWARD
  • Mark GRAHAM

Abstract

Digital labour platforms have been widely promoted as a solution to the unemployment crisis sparked by the COVID‐19 pandemic. However, the pandemic has also highlighted the vulnerability of gig workers when cast as essential workers. This article examines the COVID‐19 policies of 191 platforms in 43 countries to understand how the crisis has shifted the conventions of the gig economy. Using a typology of “fair platform work”, the authors identify areas of progress in worker protection but also significant shortfalls, including the entrenchment of precarious work as platforms leverage the opportunities arising from the crisis.

Suggested Citation

  • Kelle HOWSON & Funda USTEK‐SPILDA & Alessio BERTOLINI & Richard HEEKS & Fabian FERRARI & Srujana KATTA & Matthew COLE & Pablo AGUERA RENESES & Nancy SALEM & David SUTCLIFFE & Shelly STEWARD & Mark GRA, 2022. "Stripping back the mask: Working conditions on digital labour platforms during the COVID‐19 pandemic," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 161(3), pages 413-440, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:intlab:v:161:y:2022:i:3:p:413-440
    DOI: 10.1111/ilr.12222
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/ilr.12222
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/ilr.12222?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bénédicte Apouey & Alexandra Roulet & Isabelle Solal & Mark Stabile, 2020. "Gig Workers During the COVID-19 Crisis in France: Financial Precarity and Mental Well-Being," Working Papers halshs-02932784, HAL.
    2. Bénédicte H. Apouey & Alexandra Roulet & Isabelle Solal & Mark Stabile, 2020. "Gig Workers during the COVID-19 Crisis in France: Financial Precarity and Mental Well-Being," Post-Print halshs-02973630, HAL.
    3. Jim Stanford, 2017. "The resurgence of gig work: Historical and theoretical perspectives," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 28(3), pages 382-401, September.
    4. Cyrille Schwellnus & Assaf Geva & Mathilde Pak & Rafael Veiel, 2019. "Gig economy platforms: Boon or Bane?," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1550, OECD Publishing.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Benjamin Semujanga & Xavier Parent-Rocheleau, 2024. "Time-Based Stress and Procedural Justice: Can Transparency Mitigate the Effects of Algorithmic Compensation in Gig Work?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(1), pages 1-16, January.
    2. Woo‐Yung KIM, 2023. "Do unions provide employment protection in times of economic crisis? A natural experiment of COVID‐19," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 162(4), pages 615-639, December.
    3. Lotta K. Harju & Joonas Rokka & Maíra Magalhães Lopes & Massimo Airoldi & Karine Raïes, 2021. "Employee Well-Being Profiles During Covid-19 Lockdown : A Latent Profile Analysis of French and UK employees," Post-Print hal-04376054, HAL.
    4. Bénédicte Apouey & Mark Stabile, 2022. "The effects of Uber diffusion on the mental health of drivers," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(7), pages 1468-1490, July.
    5. Dimitri Ioannides & Szilvia Gyimóthy & Laura James, 2021. "From Liminal Labor to Decent Work: A Human-Centered Perspective on Sustainable Tourism Employment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-15, January.
    6. Tan, Karen Pei-Sze & Yang, Yang & Li, Xiang (Robert), 2022. "Catching a ride in the peer-to-peer economy: Tourists’ acceptance and use of ridesharing services before and during the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 504-518.
    7. Louis Delamarre & Salma Tannous & Ines Lakbar & Sébastien Couarraze & Bruno Pereira & Marc Leone & Fouad Marhar & Julien S. Baker & Reza Bagheri & Mickael Berton & Hana Rabbouch & Marek Zak & Tomasz S, 2022. "The Evolution of Effort-Reward Imbalance in Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic in France—An Observational Study in More than 8000 Workers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-13, July.
    8. Nurul Iman Abdul Jalil & Soon Aun Tan & Nur Shakila Ibharim & Anisah Zainab Musa & Siew Hui Ang & Wustari L. Mangundjaya, 2023. "The Relationship between Job Insecurity and Psychological Well-Being among Malaysian Precarious Workers: Work–Life Balance as a Mediator," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-14, February.
    9. Yuxun Peng & Yuqing Shao & Ziyun Li & Ruian Cai & Xiaochen Bo & Chen Qian & Qiao Chu & Jiang Chen & Jianwei Shi, 2022. "Status and Determinants of Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression among Food Delivery Drivers in Shanghai, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-14, October.
    10. John Burgess & Julia Connell, 2020. "New technology and work: Exploring the challenges," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 31(3), pages 310-323, September.
    11. Paul Dalziel, 2019. "Wellbeing economics in public policy: A distinctive Australasian contribution?," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 30(4), pages 478-497, December.
    12. Krenz, Astrid & Strulik, Holger, 2022. "Automation and the fall and rise of the servant economy," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 431, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    13. Inga Laß & Mark Wooden, 2019. "Non-standard Employment and Wages in Australia," RBA Annual Conference Papers acp2019-04, Reserve Bank of Australia, revised Jul 2019.
    14. Terri L. Griffith & Emma S. Nordbäck & John E. Sawyer & Ronald E. Rice, 2018. "Field study of complements to supervisory leadership in more and less flexible work settings," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 7(1), pages 1-26, December.
    15. Adermon, Adrian & Hensvik, Lena, 2022. "Gig-jobs: Stepping stones or dead ends?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    16. Katarzyna Gruszka & Manuel Scholz-Wäckerle & Ernest Aigner, 2020. "Planetary carambolage: The evolutionary political economy of technology, nature and work," Review of Evolutionary Political Economy, Springer, vol. 1(3), pages 273-293, November.
    17. Troy, Laurence & Wolifson, Peta & Buckley, Amma & Buckle, Caitlin & Adkins, Lisa & Bryant, Gareth & Konings, Martijn, 2023. "Pathways to home ownership in an age of uncertainty," SocArXiv vstm4, Center for Open Science.
    18. Rahul Menon, 2019. "Short-term contracts and their effect on wages in Indian regular wage employment," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 30(1), pages 142-164, March.
    19. Baumber, Alex & Schweinsberg, Stephen & Scerri, Moira & Kaya, Ece & Sajib, Shahriar, 2021. "Sharing begins at home: A social licence framework for home sharing practices," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    20. Yvonne Lott & Clare Kelliher & Heejung Chung, 2022. "Reflecting the changing world of work? A critique of existing survey measures and a proposal for capturing new ways of working," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 28(4), pages 457-473, November.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:intlab:v:161:y:2022:i:3:p:413-440. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ilounch.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.