Fragmented Demands: Platform and Gig-Working in the UK

Abstract

In the chapter by Howcroft, Dundon and Inversi, the nature of precarious work via digital platforms is examined from multiple sources of research. Platform work is variously defined and encompasses crowdwork, on-demand jobs, gig-economy tasks and on-call work. The spatial dynamic arising from platform technology is both global and local. Platforms connect individual workers, recruiting agents and end-users with increasing ease. This activity can occur at the global level for online work tasks, such as Amazon Mechanical Turk and Upwork. Equally, much activity is locally based on examples including food delivery or transportation services, purchased and ordered via a digital device or mobile application. As platform work opens up new and alternative streams of income generation, some workers rely on platforms for their primary earnings while others supplement this work with additional jobs. In terms of job quality and work equality, there are a number of concerns regarding the role, scope and functions of platforms as intermediary agents. These concerns are amplified in the context of governance and regulation, where power is clearly skewed to serve the interests of the platform. Therefore, in this chapter we contest the claim that platform workers constitute a new entrepreneurial class that has the freedom and flexibility to choose tasks. They are dependent on the power of platforms as intermediary agents, completing work activities that are increasingly precarious and fragmented.