Decent gig work in Sub Sahara Africa?

Abstract

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) economies are entrenched in traditional economic and employment structures driven by the informal sector. There is a small and regulated formal sector, built upon public sector employment. Unlike the discussion of gig work in advanced capitalist economies, the development of gig work in SSA is within an environment where employment standards and labour regulations are largely absent. The concern in developed countries is that gig work erodes the norm of regulated employment; in developing economies gig work is part of the norm of informal and unregulated employment. Gig work in SSA offers the potential for formalisation of production and work, new forms of agency, and supporting decent work. However, the challenge is how to realise this potential. The role of platforms in developing and transmitting decent work protocols into gig contracts is discussed as a potential means for supporting decent work in SSA.

Implications of algorithmic management on careers and employment relationships in the gig economy – a developing country perspective

“…The foregoing quotations align with previous studies (e.g., Graham et al, 2017;Ayentimi et al, 2023) that argued that income is a crucial motivation for workers who take up jobs in the gig economy.…”

“…For instance, research has shown that gig workers are often attracted by the perceived autonomy, flexibility and task variety that digital platforms offer (Graham et al, 2017;Wood et al, 2019;Anwar and Graham, 2021). Other pull factors in African countries include the unemployment rate in the formal sector requiring individuals to engage in gig work for survival and high-income earnings from taking up multiple gig jobs (Ayentimi et al, 2023). On the other hand, push factors refer to the prevalent unfavourable forces that motivate individuals to leave their current work in the gig economy and pursue alternative opportunities.…”

Digital labour: a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis

“…Researchers need to develop innovative research methods that can capture the nuances and complexities of digital labour and the ways in which it shapes work and employment. Hence, digital labour has significant policy implications for labour markets, social protection and the regulation of work (Kirk et al , 2022; Yao et al , 2022; Ayentimi et al , 2023). Researchers need to engage with policymakers and other stakeholders, including businesses, to ensure that their research findings inform policy debates and decisions.…”

Platform Work as a Source of Satisfaction – Its Merits and Demerits in the Opinion of Poles

“…Services can be performed online (this is how platforms such as Useme, Freelancer, MTurk, PeoplePerHour and many others operate) or offline (examples of such platforms include Task Rabbit, Pomocedomowe, Uber, Glovo), but they are always me diated by a digital platform. They can range from typical simple jobs, referred to as crowd work, to assignments or projects requiring specialised knowledge, classified as freelancing, but they also include the work of couriers delivering meals, drivers transporting people, and contractors of simple domestic services and alike [De Stefano, 2015;Florisson, Mandl, 2018;Mandl, 2021;Stewart, Stanford, 2017;Ayentimi, Abadi, Burgess, 2023].…”