Crowdworkers' temporal flexibility is being traded for the convenience of requesters through 19 'invisible mechanisms' employed by crowdworking platforms
Crowdworking platforms are a prime example of a product that sells
flexibility to its consumers. In this paper, we argue that crowdworking platforms sell temporal flexibility to requesters to the detriment
of workers. We begin by identifying a list of 19 features employed
by crowdworking platforms that facilitate the trade of temporal
flexibility from crowdworkers to requesters. Using the list of features, we conduct a comparative analysis of nine crowdworking
platforms available to U.S.-based workers, in which we describe
key differences and similarities between the platforms. We find
that crowdworking platforms strongly favour features that promote requesters’ temporal flexibility over workers’ by limiting the
predictability of workers’ working hours and restricting paid time.
Further, we identify which platforms employ the highest number of
features that facilitate the trade of temporal flexibility from workers
to requesters, consequently increasing workers’ temporal precarity.
We conclude the paper by discussing the implications of the results