The Commodification of Digital Labor in the Gig Economy: Online Outsourcing, Insecure Employment, and Platform-based Rating and Ranking Systems
Maria DurlaufABSTRACT. This article reviews recent literature concerning the commodification of digital labor in the gig economy. Building my argument by drawing on data collected from BloombergOpinion, BLS, CIPD, Consultancy.uk, D&S, Edelman Intelligence, Full Fact, GAO, Kalido, One Poll, ONS, RSA, Upwork, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and YouGov Omnibus, I performed analyses and made estimates regarding level of satisfaction with different aspects of gig economy (%), top reasons for freelancing (%), UK adults in various forms of work in the gig economy (in millions), average weekly earnings (US) – traditional vs. contingent employment, distribution of workers (%, by age group), share of workers on contingent contracts (%, by industry), and drivers of freelancing in the UK (%). Multivariate statistics techniques have been applied for data analyses (e.g. structural equation modeling).
JEL codes: L14; L86
Keywords: commodification; digital labor; gig economy; online outsourcing
How to cite: Durlauf, Maria (2019). “The Commodification of Digital Labor in the Gig Economy: Online Outsourcing, Insecure Employment, and Platform-based Rating and Ranking Systems,” Psychosociological Issues in Human Resource Management 7(1): 54–59. doi:10.22381/PIHRM7120196
Received 2 January 2019 • Received in revised form 11 April 2019
Accepted 13 April 2019 • Available online 1 May 2019