“Why lose control?” A Study of Freelancers’ Experiences with Gig Economy Platforms

Abstract

Freelancing platforms, such as Upwork, represent an expansion of the gig economy to encompass knowledge-based work. Prior research in HCI has primarily focused on forms of gig work such as ride-sharing and microwork but has not addressed how freelancing platforms are disrupting high-skilled knowledge work. To understand freelancers' perspectives on how these platforms are disrupting their work we have collected and thematically analysed 528 posts with 7499 comments from four relevant subforums on Reddit. The qualitative findings reveal tensions between wanting autonomy and control and the necessity of opportunities and convenience. Freelancing platforms are perceived as systems that present advantages to find clients, gain experience and mitigate precarity. However, these platforms constrain the control over their work that freelancers value. The paper contributes an improved understanding of freelance work, the role and potential for freelancing platforms in the knowledge-based gig economy, and directions for worker-centred design.

Socio‐technical issues in the platform‐mediated gig economy: A systematic literature review: An Annual Review of Information Science and Technology (ARIST) paper

“…Gig workers reported “seeking out gig employment to build skills that they may want to capitalize on in their future” (Jabbari et al, 2020, p. 8). For example, on certain platforms, upskilling is encouraged and gig workers can view each other's profiles and portfolios, allowing them to “borrow” from each other with the goal of improving the digital indicators of reputation embedded in their platform presence (de la Vega et al, 2021). In some cases the platform company sends the workers messages with tips and advice intended to help them improve their work (Bellesia et al, 2019).…”

“…The inter-worker communication via digital technologies can lead to the development of a sense of "networked solidarity," where gig workers provide each other with help and support (Le Breton & Galière, 2023). Many workers also find and provide support through social media platforms using, for example, Facebook groups and Reddit subforums (de la Vega et al, 2021). In China, gig workers use WeChat groups to discuss their work experiences (Vasudevan & Chan, 2022), compare earnings, complain, and buy or sell job-related equipment (Wu & Zheng, 2020).…”

“…It is a primary reason given for people to engage in gig work (Ens et al, 2018). Gig workers consistently commented that flexibility was important to them because it allowed them "to arrange work flexibly on a project basis" (de la Vega et al, 2021) giving them more freedom in their lifestyles (Cram et al, 2020). Flexibility was also seen to be as a basis for diversity and inclusion, creating opportunities for "groups who have long been excluded from the labor market, such as (ethnicized) youth, (female) individuals with caring responsibilities in the home, people living in remote areas, individuals with a disability" (Janssens & Zanoni, 2021, p. 11).…”

“…In most cases, however, rating and review systems can have negative impacts. For instance, workers are disempowered and cannot easily push back against abusive clients because of the possibility of damaging their reputations (de la Vega et al, 2021), which are crucial to their continued ability to secure work (Nair, 2022). Many platforms use rating and review data to improve recommendation systems, which means that if the input data are biased (favoring workers of a certain gender and race), the algorithm may reinforce the realworld inequalities (Hann ak et al, 2017).…”

Digital Labor, Platforms, and AI

“…How might we delimit this labor from other types of labor? Platform labor is a broad term that can refer to ride-share drivers (Munn, 2017), digitally mediated care workers (Ticona & Mateescu, 2018), and freelance designers and professionals (Carlos Alvarez de la Vega et al, 2021), along with a wide array of other roles, in a diverse range of industry sectors. This chapter focuses on a certain form of platform labor often referred to as "crowd work" or "click work."…”