ABSTRACT. This article reviews recent literature concerning the commodification of digital labor in the gig economy. Building my argument by drawing on data collected from BloombergOpinion, BLS, CIPD, Consultancy.uk, D&S, Edelman Intelligence, Full Fact, GAO, Kalido, One Poll, ONS, RSA, Upwork, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and YouGov Omnibus, I performed analyses and made estimates regarding level of satisfaction with different aspects of gig economy (%), top reasons for freelancing (%), UK adults in various forms of work in the gig economy (in millions), average weekly earnings (US) – traditional vs. contingent employment, distribution of workers (%, by age group), share of workers on contingent contracts (%, by industry), and drivers of freelancing in the UK (%). Multivariate statistics techniques have been applied for data analyses (e.g. structural equation modeling).
JEL codes: L14; L86
Keywords: commodification; digital labor; gig economy; online outsourcing
How to cite: Durlauf, Maria (2019). “The Commodification of Digital Labor in the Gig Economy: Online Outsourcing, Insecure Employment, and Platform-based Rating and Ranking Systems,” Psychosociological Issues in Human Resource Management 7(1): 54–59. doi:10.22381/PIHRM7120196
Received 2 January 2019 • Received in revised form 11 April 2019
Accepted 13 April 2019 • Available online 1 May 2019