Adversaries or Cross-Organization Co-workers? Exploring the Relationship between Gig Workers and Conventional Employees

Maffie, Michael David

doi:10.1177/00197939231194254

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 57 publications

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“…Second, platform companies filter partnership requests to ensure that the resulting research reflects favorably on their labor practices (Horan, 2019). Following past empirical research on gig workers (Maffie, 2023b(Maffie, , 2023c, I recruited participants from online communities and partnered with gig worker "influencers." To protect data quality, I only recruited from online communities that required members to provide proof of shopper status.…”

Section: Participant Recruitmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Politicized shopping in the gig economy: Retaliation and solidarity on the “other side” of the app

Maffie

2023

Industrial Relations

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In this mixed‐methods article, the author investigates how gig workers behave when they become consumers of these products. The author finds that workers engage in politicized shopping – where they order from platform companies with comparably better labor standards – both to retaliate against companies with substandard labor practices and support their fellow gig workers. By examining worker behavior on the “other side” of the platform, this article expands our understanding politicized shopping in this emerging area of work.

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Section: Participant Recruitmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Politicized shopping in the gig economy: Retaliation and solidarity on the “other side” of the app

Maffie

2023

Industrial Relations

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The triangular relationship in platform gig work: Consumers, platform beneficence and worker vulnerability

Healy,

Pekarek

2024

New Technol Work Employ

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Platform gig work is created and contested in dynamic, triangular relationships between platforms, workers, and consumers. Compared with the first two groups, however, evidence about the role of the third—consumers—is sparse. In this paper, we investigate consumers' changing perceptions of work in the platform gig economy and argue that their perspective warrants greater attention in sociological analyses. Using data from two Australian public opinion surveys conducted 5 years apart (2017 and 2022), we explore how consumers' views of platform gig work evolved during a period of rapid change that includes the first 2 years of the COVID‐19 pandemic. We find that while overall platform use increased markedly, many consumers felt conflicted about gig workers' conditions and key features of platforms' typical labour practices. There is a pronounced, enduring, and consequential tension in consumers' views of the merits and drawbacks of this work; between, on the one hand, an acceptance that platforms do benefit workers to some extent and, on the other hand, misgivings about workers' vulnerability to harm. In centring consumers, our paper empirically enriches current triangular conceptions of labour relations in the platform gig economy, by showing how consumers mediate the interests of platforms and workers, to shape how gig work manifests and who benefits from it. We also contribute useful new practical knowledge, by elucidating the prevailing concerns of consumers that could be developed into resonant themes for campaigns aimed at improving platform gig workers' rights.

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Variations of Freelancers’ “Effort-Bargain” Experiences in Platform Work: The Role of Skills

Pulignano,

Muszyński,

Tapia

2024

ILR Review

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This article delves into freelancers’“effort-bargain” experiences within platform work, where effort is exchanged for income. The study of experiences enables us to understand how freelancer–platform relationships evolve in light of the platforms’ lack of recognition of freelancers’ skills. Drawing on 63 interviews across four platforms within the online labor market (OLM), the authors present a theoretical framework explaining a “skill-driven continuum” in such relationships. At one extreme ( cooperation), freelancers experience the effort-bargain as recognition exchange, facilitated by non-competitive, regular transactions allowing them to monetize their skills. At the other extreme ( exploitation), freelancers experience their skills going unrecognized because of competitive bidding for casual gigs. While freelancers with specialized skills are sometimes able to disintermediate, thereby retaining recognition by claiming autonomy and monetary gains, those with generalized skills may resort to gaming, seeking to gain recognition by boosting their ratings. The authors provide insights into freelancers’ effort-bargain experiences by the meanings associated with skill-recognition and skill-exchange.

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Adversaries or Cross-Organization Co-workers? Exploring the Relationship between Gig Workers and Conventional Employees

Cited by 4 publications

References 57 publications

Politicized shopping in the gig economy: Retaliation and solidarity on the “other side” of the app

Politicized shopping in the gig economy: Retaliation and solidarity on the “other side” of the app

The triangular relationship in platform gig work: Consumers, platform beneficence and worker vulnerability

Variations of Freelancers’ “Effort-Bargain” Experiences in Platform Work: The Role of Skills

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