Abstract:We draw on data from the Online Labour Index and interviews with freelancers in the United States securing work on online platforms, to illuminate effects of the COVID‐19 pandemic. The pandemic's global economic upheaval is shuttering shops and offices. Those able to do so are now working remotely from their homes. They join workers who have always been working remotely: freelancers who earn some or all of their income from projects secured via online labour platforms. Data allow us to sketch a first picture o… Show more
“…Effects are mixed and vary across types of activity and over time. Oxford's Online Labour Index data point out that work-from-home initially stagnated for many types of remote contractors (also including freelancers like designers) as companies with declining revenues downscaled online outsourcing (Stephany, et al, 2020). However, several months into the pandemic, hiring has bounced back as lockdowns began to lift in Europe and North America and jumped to higher levels than ever before, driven by demand for IT freelancers.…”
Section: Covid-19: Gig Platform- Micro- and Last-mile Workersmentioning
In this article, we argue that new kinds of risk are emerging with the COVID-19 virus, and that these risks are unequally distributed. As we expose to view, digital inequalities and social inequalities are rendering certain subgroups significantly more vulnerable to exposure to COVID-19. Vulnerable populations bearing disproportionate risks include the social isolated, older adults, penal system subjects, digitally disadvantaged students, gig workers, and last-mile workers. Therefore, we map out the intersection between COVID-19 risk factors and digital inequalities on each of these populations in order to examine how the digitally resourced have additional tools to mitigate some of the risks associated with the pandemic. We shed light on how the ongoing pandemic is deepening key axes of social differentiation, which were previously occluded from view. These newly manifested forms of social differentiation can be conceived along several related dimensions. At their most general and abstract, these risks have to do with the capacity individuals have to control the risk of pathogen exposure. In order to fully manage exposure risk, individuals must control their physical environment to the greatest extent possible in order to prevent contact with potentially compromised physical spaces. In addition, they must control their social interactional environment to the greatest extent possible in order to minimize their contacts with potentially infected individuals. All else equal, those individuals who exercise more control over their exposure risk — on the basis of their control over their physical and social interactional environments — stand a better chance of staying healthy than those individuals who cannot manage exposure risk. Individuals therefore vary in terms of what we call their COVID-19 exposure risk profile (CERPs). CERPs hinge on preexisting forms of social differentiation such as socioeconomic status, as individuals with more economic resources at their disposal can better insulate themselves from exposure risk. Alongside socioeconomic status, one of the key forms of social differentiation connected with CERPs is digital (dis)advantage. Ceteris paribus, individuals who can more effectively digitize key parts of their lives enjoy better CERPs than individuals who cannot digitize these life realms. Therefore we believe that digital inequalities are directly and increasingly related to both life-or-death exposure to COVID-19, as well as excess deaths attributable to the larger conditions generated by the pandemic.
“…Effects are mixed and vary across types of activity and over time. Oxford's Online Labour Index data point out that work-from-home initially stagnated for many types of remote contractors (also including freelancers like designers) as companies with declining revenues downscaled online outsourcing (Stephany, et al, 2020). However, several months into the pandemic, hiring has bounced back as lockdowns began to lift in Europe and North America and jumped to higher levels than ever before, driven by demand for IT freelancers.…”
Section: Covid-19: Gig Platform- Micro- and Last-mile Workersmentioning
In this article, we argue that new kinds of risk are emerging with the COVID-19 virus, and that these risks are unequally distributed. As we expose to view, digital inequalities and social inequalities are rendering certain subgroups significantly more vulnerable to exposure to COVID-19. Vulnerable populations bearing disproportionate risks include the social isolated, older adults, penal system subjects, digitally disadvantaged students, gig workers, and last-mile workers. Therefore, we map out the intersection between COVID-19 risk factors and digital inequalities on each of these populations in order to examine how the digitally resourced have additional tools to mitigate some of the risks associated with the pandemic. We shed light on how the ongoing pandemic is deepening key axes of social differentiation, which were previously occluded from view. These newly manifested forms of social differentiation can be conceived along several related dimensions. At their most general and abstract, these risks have to do with the capacity individuals have to control the risk of pathogen exposure. In order to fully manage exposure risk, individuals must control their physical environment to the greatest extent possible in order to prevent contact with potentially compromised physical spaces. In addition, they must control their social interactional environment to the greatest extent possible in order to minimize their contacts with potentially infected individuals. All else equal, those individuals who exercise more control over their exposure risk — on the basis of their control over their physical and social interactional environments — stand a better chance of staying healthy than those individuals who cannot manage exposure risk. Individuals therefore vary in terms of what we call their COVID-19 exposure risk profile (CERPs). CERPs hinge on preexisting forms of social differentiation such as socioeconomic status, as individuals with more economic resources at their disposal can better insulate themselves from exposure risk. Alongside socioeconomic status, one of the key forms of social differentiation connected with CERPs is digital (dis)advantage. Ceteris paribus, individuals who can more effectively digitize key parts of their lives enjoy better CERPs than individuals who cannot digitize these life realms. Therefore we believe that digital inequalities are directly and increasingly related to both life-or-death exposure to COVID-19, as well as excess deaths attributable to the larger conditions generated by the pandemic.
“…The global decline from mid-March to mid-April in 2020 was quite steep compared to 2018–19, and it is possible that due to the uncertainty caused by COVID-19 pandemic, firms were postponing the outsourcing of tasks or projects. Stephany et al ( 2020 ) posit that due to declining revenues firms might be reducing their non-essential spending, including outsourcing. Fig.…”
Section: Role Of Digital Labour Platforms During Covid-19 Lockdownmentioning
Platform business models emerged with the growth of the Internet in the 1990s and are conceptualized as two-or multi-sided markets, as they facilitate exchange between service providers, clients (business) and workers. This article focuses on the impact of COVID-19 on digital labour platforms, such as freelance online web-based platforms and location-based platforms (transportation and delivery platforms), which have grown exponentially over the past decade. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed immediately some of the vulnerabilities that the workers in the platform economy were facing as they were declared as part of the 'emergency services', and this note explores their conditions during the pandemic.
“…All Eastern Europe and Central Asia countries are using online portals to expand their e-services. The quality of national governance portals is measured by the Online Service Index 4 . On a scale from 0 to 1, it measures a government's capability and willingness to provide services and communicate with its citizens electronically.…”
Section: E-servicesmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Firms in high-income countries need to build the organisational capacities to incorporate work from freelancers. In that respect, the organisational changes induced by the recent stay-at-home policies might actually be a chance for freelancers from developing countries, as firms now start to learn how to organise work at a distance [4]. Another important factor is that participation in global online labour markets requires a good level of English language skills.…”
The Internet, like railways and roads in the past, is paving innovation and alters the way in which citizens, consumers, businesses, and governments function and interact with each other. This digital revolution is empowering societies. It opens new, effective, and scalable services for governments and the private sector. It provides us with a more adaptive, data-driven approach to decision making in many aspects of our life. The digitalisation is particularly relevant for developing countries, as they can seize the opportunity for leapfrogging in order to become part of the global digitalised economy. With the example of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, this work illustrates how openly available online data can be used to identify, monitor, and visualise trends in digital economic development. Our interactive online dashboard allows researchers, policy-makers, and the public to explore four aspects of digital development: E-services, online labour markets, online knowledge creation and access to online knowledge.
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