Digital platforms in the Italian domestic care sector: The emergence of an unprecedented corporate logic and its implications for workers' social protection

Abstract

This article explores the heterogeneity of care platforms using the case studies of two platforms in the Italian domestic work sector: one that carries out matching between supply and demand (Helpling), reinforcing informality in the sector, and one that acts as an employer (Batmaid). The analysis shows that digital platforms can introduce a corporate logic into a sector where it was previously absent. This creates a potential for company-level bargaining for both platforms and related models – something that trade unions have, so far, not considered owing to a lack of recognition of the needs of platform domestic workers.