How Does Platform Labour Process Control Affect Courier’s Employment Mobility Intentions?—The Mediating Effects of Overtime Work and Job Autonomy

Abstract

As one of the typical occupations in the new forms of employment generated by the platform economy, a courier has become an important channel for workers to achieve employment and increase their income. The labour process control of a courier by platforms has led to a decline in their employment experience and high mobility, which has affected the overall stability of employment. Using couriers as the research target, a questionnaire survey was conducted to explore the influence mechanism of platform labour process control on employment mobility intentions and the heterogeneity of this influence mechanism among different types of workers. The results show that among the three elements of platform labour process control, algorithmic control, incentive control, and evaluation control all have a significant, positive impact on the employment mobility intentions of couriers, with overtime work and job autonomy playing a partly mediating role respectively, job autonomy playing a significantly larger mediating role than overtime work, and part-time workers are more likely to be influenced by platform labour process control than full-time workers. On this basis, it provides a basis and reference for relevant government departments to implement effective regulation of platform enterprises, to control the degree of platform labour process control within a reasonable range, and to enhance the employment stability of workers, which has distinct theoretical and practical significance.