Mapping themes for the well-being of low-skilled gig workers: Implications for digital platform design

Abstract

Platform-based work and corresponding business models are redefining the work landscape. The rapid growth in digital platforms has prospered since the start of the pandemic, enabling various service-based gig work tasks such as Amazon, Uber and Deliveroo. Currently, there is scant literature that examines the well-being of gig workers in the platform economy. In this article, we reflect on the well-being of one category of gig workers, low-skilled service-based gig workers. These workers are often migrants or transient workers who face barriers to enter the job market in a foreign country, need a job to generate an income for the family, often transition between jobs or wish to conduct flexible, temporary gigs afforded by many digital platforms. Informed by an overview of the literature and the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) definition of well-being, our study supports the notion that precarity leads to compromised worker well-being. As a consequence, we identify four themes for gig worker well-being that can be incorporated in the design of platforms to improve the well-being of low-skilled service-based workers: (1) regulatory aspects and contracts to protect the worker, (2) job-related appraisal and reward systems, (3) feeling connected in a work-related social network and (4) algorithmic control and organization of tasks and work. Our study opens discourse on digital platform worker well-being, suggesting improvements to digital platform design to support worker well-being for service-based gig workers and potentially all forms of gig work.