This chapter seeks to introduce readers to these issues, starting with the preconditions that shape the emergence and dynamics of the gig economy. The gig economy, broadly speaking, involves working arrangements that are closer to “gigs” than traditional kinds of jobs Moreover, Guy Standing (2016) predicts that, by then, one third of all work will be mediated via digital platforms. In the slightly longer term, McKinsey estimates that 540 million people could be seeking work through “online talent platforms” by 2025, with a prediction that up to 230 million would find work (Manyika et al., 2015). To give some sense of the scale, Richard Heeks (2017) estimates that around seventy million people have found work via a platform. This focus is important because, although broader gig work has existed for a long time, the platformization of this work is drastically reshaping the gig economy-with the potential to create widespread impacts across the entire economy. Platforms, in sum, are a new type of firm they are characterized by providing the infrastructure to intermediate between different user groups, by displaying monopoly tendencies driven by network effects, by employing cross-subsidization to draw in different user groups, and by having designed a core architecture that governs the interaction possibilities. Throughout this chapter, the focus will be narrower than the gig economy, examining how gig work is increasingly being mediated via digital platforms. App-based transportation-like Uber, food delivery, or other consumer-facing services-represents particularly visible changes to work. Often, when talking about the gig economy, the subject is usually platform economy-and more specifically platform work. The current interest in the gig economy has also been spurred by the application of digital technology and the use of platforms. Short-term or precarious work has a history longer than formal work arrangements, both within jobs that now have so-called “standard employment contracts” and roles that remain informalized, like domestic work. This riffs off the ideas that work is becoming more like playing a music gig at a venue, with no guarantee of continuing work, but with workers also free to choose where to go next. The gig economy, broadly speaking, involves working arrangements that are closer to “gigs” than traditional kinds of jobs. The gig economy, along with the future of work, has become a popular topic of discussion. The next part examines the resulting labor market trends, including effects beyond the gig economy the experience for workers, drawing on current research and possible future directions, both positive and negative. However, too often debates around the gig economy lack empirical insight. The gig economy and platform work have become popular topics, while reshaping the experience of work for increasingly larger numbers of people. This chapter discusses the impacts of the gig economy on labor markets in Europe.
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