Justice expectations in crowd and platform-mediated work

Abstract

Crowdwork conducted via digital platforms is a young form of work, but a growing part of the gig economy. Typical for crowdwork is low pay, volatile income streams and no social security benefits. Also, crowdworkers have few possibilities for social comparison or negotiation because they work outside of company organisations. This article examines the question of whether these conditions mean that crowdworkers’ expectations about justice in crowdwork arrangements differ in comparison to their expectations regarding justice in conventional employment relationships. This question is addressed empirically on the basis of 36 qualitative interviews and a survey of 230 crowdworkers. The justice expectations of crowdworkers involved in different types of crowdworking platforms in German-speaking countries were examined. In our sample, crowd work typically serves to supplement – not replace – conventional employment. This explorative research shows that crowdworkers use similar standards of justice regarding work performance in their evaluations of work mediated via crowdwork platforms and conventional employment. It shows that crowdworkers perceive injustices in four specific areas: planning insecurity, lack of transparency in performance evaluation, lack of clarity in task briefings and low remuneration. These areas correspond to the theoretical dimensions of distributive and procedural justice on Colquitt’s (2001) organisational justice scale. These findings have implications for future efforts to regulate crowdwork. JEL codes: J88; J3

Comprehensive Evaluation of Digital Strategies and Its Impact on Company Performance

“…The findings align closely with this expectation, as participants expressed a belief that utilizing the e-commerce platform would enhance the quality of work outcomes and business performance within the company. This affirmation resonates with existing research that highlights the significance of employees' positive expectations in driving technology adoption, particularly in the e-commerce domain [46], [47]. It suggests that when employees anticipate improved work outcomes and business results through the e-commerce platform, they are more likely to engage with it, thereby contributing to its extensive usage and its potential to enhance company performance.…”

Gig work and gig workers: An integrative review and agenda for future research

“…This indicates that employers who hire contingent workers should not simply focus on distributive justice to pay them adequately but should also pay particular attention to how they offer information access and adequate explanation to these workers. Pfeiffer and Kawalec (2020) found that crowdworkers used similar standards of justice regarding their work mediated via digital labor platforms and conventional employment, in specific areas such as task clarity and performance evaluation transparency.…”

Platform workers and digital agency: Making out on three types of labor platforms

“…Different contexts may give rise to different manifestations of digital agency depending on, among others, how fair workers consider them to be. The fairness of platform work practices is an important and rising research theme (e.g., Faullant et al, 2017 ; Graham and Woodcock, 2018 ; Fieseler et al, 2019 ; Pfeiffer and Kawalec, 2020 ; Shanahan and Smith, 2021 ; Seppänen et al, 2023 ), but here we only touch upon it as part of answering to our research question. We assume that the less fair workers perceive platform operations, the greater motivation they have to practice and develop their digital agency for making out.…”