191 research outputs found
Finding meaning in crowdwork:An analysis of algorithmic management, work characteristics, and meaningfulness
In this study we investigate the implications of different aspects of algorithmic coordination and algorithmic quantification for perceived work conditions and the meaningfulness of crowdwork. Using survey data obtained from 412 crowdworkers, our analysis shows that work conditions and the meaningfulness of work are impacted differently by algorithmic coordination and the feeling of being quantified by an algorithm. Specifically, it shows that algorithmic coordination has either a positive or null impact on perceived work conditions and meaningfulness of work. However, negative associations between algorithmic quantification and perceived work conditions, suggest that the algorithmic quantification seems particularly problematic for crowdworkersâ experienced work conditions. Furthermore, algorithmic coordination is positively associated with the meaningfulness of work, while algorithmic quantification is negatively associated with the perceived meaningfulness of work. Using work design theory, the findings also provide insights into the mechanisms explaining these relationships.</p
How well did I do? The effect of feedback on affective commitment in the context of microwork
Crowdwork is a relatively new form of platform-mediated and paid online work that creates different types of relationships between all parties involved. This paper focuses on the crowdworker-requester relationship and investigates how the option of receiving feedback impacts the affective commitment of microworkers. An online vignette experiment (N= 145) on a German crowdworking platform was conducted. We found that the integration of feedback options within the task description influences the affective commitment positively toward the requester as well as the perceived requester attractiveness
Study to gather evidence on the working conditions of platform workers VT/2018/032 Final Report 13 December 2019
Platform work is a type of work using an online platform to intermediate between platform workers, who provide services, and paying clients. Platform work seems to be growing in size and importance. This study explores platform work in the EU28, Norway and Iceland, with a focus on the challenges it presents to working conditions and social protection, and how countries have responded through top-down (e.g. legislation and case law) and bottom-up actions (e.g. collective agreements, actions by platform workers or platforms). This national mapping is accompanied by a comparative assessment of selected EU legal instruments, mostly in the social area. Each instrument is assessed for personal and material scope to determine how it might impact such challenges. Four broad legal domains with relevance to platform work challenges are examined in stand-alone reflection papers. Together, the national mapping and legal analysis support a gap analysis, which aims to indicate where further action on platform work would be useful, and what form such action might take
âIf He Just Knew Who We Wereâ:Microworkersâ Emerging Bonds of Attachment in a Fragmented Employment Relationship
Using the lens of attachment, we explore microworkersâ views of their employment relationship. Microwork comprises short-term, task-focused exchanges with large numbers of end-users (requesters), implying transitory and transactional relationships. Other key parties, however, include the platform which digitally meditates worker-requester relationships and the online microworker community. We explore the nature of attachment with these parties and the implications for microworkersâ employment experiences. Using data from a workersâ campaign directed at Amazon Mechanical Turk and CEO Jeff Bezos, we demonstrate multiple, dynamic bonds, primarily, acquiescence and instrumental bonds towards requesters and the platform, and identification with the online community. Microworkers also expressed dedication towards the platform. We consider how attachment buffers the exploitative employment relationship and how community bonds mobilise collective worker voice
Representing workers in Europe
UIDB/04647/2020
UIDP/04647/2020"This book reflects the diversity of platform workers and their strategies to improve their work and organize collectively. It offers an insight on the cultural and institutional frameworks of the gig economy and the varieties of platform work in different sectors, locals, skills and complexity level. At the same time, it provides a range of policy options to ensure labour rights and social protections for these workers. Although a common European policy is still missing, critical debates have been raised to foster socially acceptable platform work. It presents new pathways for exploiting the potential positive effects of platform economy and platform-based work." (from the Introduction) âIt is therefore not surprising that new initiatives are arising both among traditional trade unions and in new types of organisation and, in the process, innovative new demands are being raised and placed on the negotiating agenda. These are documented in this timely publication, which adds indispensably to our knowledge about labour responses to platformisation in Europe.â (from the Preface by Ursula Huws)publishersversionpublishe
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Digital platforms of work and the crafting of career path: the crowdworkersâ perspective
Work and Employment is a critical area that is undergoing major change influenced by the widespread connectivity and utilisation of the Internet and the rise of digital platforms. Crowdwork is an emerging new way of working that is witnessing exponential growth. It is surrounded by a fixed debate between opposite perspectives on its impact on workers. However, both perspectives adopt a static view that does not pay much attention to crowdworkersâ progress in their job over time. In this study, we seek to advance this debate by adopting a dynamic view of crowdwork to explore the trajectory of workers over time based on their own accounts. Through rich qualitative data and inductive analysis, the study unravels that crowdworkers craft what could be conceptualised as a career development path. It identifies five stages in this career path and workersâ efforts to mould their work demands and job-related resources to create a future for themselves. The discussion shows the fruitful insight that this approach brings to theory and practice. Limitations and future avenues for research are then discussed
UNDERSTANDING THE INFLUENCE OF TECHNOSTRESS ON WORKERSâ JOB SATISFACTION IN GIG-ECONOMY: AN EXPLORATORY INVESTIGATION
Gig-economy is a recent concept that has been attracting growing attention. Online labour markets (OLMs) are a prominent part of gig-economy and require completion of tasks digitally through platforms such as MTurk and Upwork. The World Bank estimated the total market size of OLMs to be 25 billion in 2020. Despite the rapid growth of OLMs, the implications of workersâ wellbeing in such markets are not well understood and highly debated. A report commissioned by EU-OSHA has identiïŹed psycho-social risks associated with the work in OLMs. The highly competitive and fast-paced nature of OLMs necessitates workers to multitask and perform intense technology-enabled work which may lead to technostress. This paper investigates workersâ job satisfaction in OLMs using technostress and job characteristic theories with the aim of providing an in-depth understanding of the experiences and perceptions of workers. Our research model has both theoretical and practical implications which will help to diagnose potential problems and improve the wellbeing of workers by formulating strategies for OLMs and workers. The paper presents the results of a pilot study in a popular OLM using structural equation modelling
New Perspectives in Critical Data Studies
This Open Access book examines the ambivalences of data power. Firstly, the ambivalences between global infrastructures and local invisibilities challenge the grand narrative of the ephemeral nature of a global data infrastructure. They make visible local working and living conditions, and the resources and arrangements required to operate and run them. Secondly, the book examines ambivalences between the state and data justice. It considers data justice in relation to state surveillance and data capitalism, and reflects on the ambivalences between an âentrepreneurial stateâ and a âwelfare stateâ. Thirdly, the authors discuss ambivalences of everyday practices and collective action, in which civil society groups, communities, and movements try to position the interests of people against the âbig playersâ in the tech industry. The book includes eighteen chapters that provide new and varied perspectives on the role of data and data infrastructures in our increasingly datafied societies
Understanding Human Enactment of Technology on Digital Labor Platforms
This study examines gig workersâ interactions with digital platforms to reveal how workers see technology in relation to their conduct of work. Gig workers are paid labors who find short-term tasks or projects through a digital labor platform (DLP) that connects clients and workers. Workers are intertwined with technologies in gig work. On DLPs such as Uber, tensions arise between humans and algorithmic management. Yet, our understanding of worker perceptions of DLP technologies remains limited. This study focuses on place-based gig work of delivery and grocery shopping (e.g., Instacart, Postmates) and draws upon sociomateriality research to reveal workersâ perceptions. Analysis of worker narratives revealed three themes related to worker enactments of technology on DLPs (affording, constraining, and seeking alternatives) and two co-existing, contradictory identities of technology (aid vs. obstacle). The dual relations suggest new dimensions of sociomateriality on DLPs and offer practical implications on the digitalization of work
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