Despite growing interest in the gig economy among academics, policy makers and media commentators, the area is replete with different terminology, definitional constructs and contested claims about the ensuing transformation of work organisation. The aim of this positional piece is to provide a timely review and classification of crowdwork. A typology is developed to map the complexity of this emerging terrain, illuminating range and scope by critically synthesising empirical findings and issues from multidisciplinary literatures. Rather than sidetracking into debates as to what exactly constitutes crowdwork, the purpose of the typology is to highlight commonalities rather than distinctions, enabling connections across areas. The framework serves as a heuristic device for considering the broader implications for work and employment in terms of control and coordination, regulation and classification, and collective agency and representation.

Crowd employment platforms enable firms to source labour and expertise by leveraging Internet technology. Rather than offshoring jobs to low‐cost geographies, functions once performed by internal employees can be outsourced to an undefined pool of digital labour using a virtual network. This enables firms to shift costs and offload risk as they access a flexible, scalable workforce that sits outside the traditional boundaries of labour laws and regulations. The micro‐tasks of ‘clickwork’ are tedious, repetitive and poorly paid, with remuneration often well below minimum wage. This article will present an analysis of one of the most popular crowdsourcing sites—Mechanical Turk—to illuminate how Amazon's platform enables an array of companies to access digital labour at low cost and without any of the associated social protection or moral obligation.

The adaptation of lean techniques in public services is viewed as an innovative managerialist response to government demands for more efficient services amidst large reductions in public spending. This paper explores workers' experiences of the impact of lean on work organisation and control and provides new insights into developments within contemporary back office clerical work. Bob Carter (rcarter@dmu.ac.uk) is Professor of Organisational Change Management at De Montfort University. His research interests are in labour process analysis, restructuring the public sector, class relations and trade union organising strategies. Andy Danford (corresponding author: andrew.danford@uwe.ac.uk) is Professor of Employment Relations at the University of the West of England. His research interests include labour process analysis of lean production and the high performance workplace and union organizing strategies. Debra Howcroft (Debra.howcroft@mbs.ac.uk) is Professor of Technology and Organisations at the University of Manchester and visiting Professor at Luleå University of Technology. Her research interests are concerned with the drivers and consequences of socio-economic restructuring in a global context. Helen Richardson (H.Richardson@ salford.ac.uk) is a Reader at the University of Salford. Her research interests encompass technology, work and organisation including issues of gender, the ICT labour market and the global location of service work. Andrew Smith (A.Smith14@Bradford.ac.uk) is a Lecturer in Human Resource Management and Employment Relations at the University of Bradford. His current research focuses on change in the public sector. Phil Taylor (philip.taylor@strath.ac.uk) is Professor of Work and Employment Studies at the University of Strathclyde and has researched and published extensively on call centres, offshoring, occupational health and safety, the labour process and trade union organising. New Technology, Work and Employment 26:2

Occupational health and safety (OHS) is under-researched in the sociology of work and employment. This deficit is most pronounced for white-collar occupations. Despite growing awareness of the significance of psychosocial conditions -notably stress -and musculoskeletal disorders, white-collar work is considered by conventional OHS discourse to be 'safe'.

No abstract