Fair gig work
At a glance
The gig economy refers to a labour market comprised of short-term jobs, so called ‘gigs’. These ‘gigs’ are usually completed by workers contracted on a non-permanent basis and are mediated via digital labour platforms. The gigs can be accessed and completed solely online as cloudwork (e.g.programming or content creation) or initially accessed online, to then be carried out in an analogue and physical manner as location-based work (e.g. delivery services).
Over 40 million people in low- and middle-income countries earn part or their entire income in the gig economy, and this figure is rising. Digital platforms stimulate employment and income generation through the increased availability and access to digitally mediated jobs. In this context, platforms are the intermediaries that connect supply and demand and also set the framework and rules for exchange and behaviour of workers and clients.
Alongside the growth and potential are the challenges arising from the new modus of work. Workers may face poor pay, intransparent algorithmic management decisions and dismissals, long working hours and more. There is a lack of suitable conditions, knowledge, and instruments to promote fair work in the gig economy nationally and internationally. This is where the Gig Economy Initiative comes into play. The initiative promotes fairer and higher labour standards in the gig economy at the level of workers, platforms, and policymakers. With its holistic approach it seeks to strike a balance between enabling new and equitable employment opportunities and minimising existing challenges.
Brazil’s gig workers
Jessica, Marcelo and Juliana are three of more than 600,000 Brazilian workers who take orders daily through digital labour platforms. Mostly without fair pay, labour protection or the right to organise collectively with other workers – effectively excluded from the protection of Brazilian labour law. We have accompanied them in their everyday life.
open photo reportage
Our approach
The aim of the Gig Economy Initiative is to create the necessary conditions for fair work in the gig economy at the level of 1) workers, 2) platforms and 3) other key stakeholders from politics, business and civil society. The initiative offers training and guidance for workers, supports the scale-up of an evaluation mechanism for the fairness of platforms and advises platforms on how to improve their working conditions. The initiative also raises awareness among policy stakeholders for the potentials and risks of the gig economy and existing regulatory gaps.
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The Gig Economy Initiative is implementing capacity measures in the form of tools and training for gig workers, for which you can enroll here, to help them better navigate the gig economy, find decent jobs or work outside digital labour platforms. These human-centered learning opportunities raise gig workers’ awareness on in-demand skills, their digital and work rights. So far, more than 20,000 workers and their allies have participated in these programmes and improved their understanding of the needs, challenges, and strategies for navigating the gig economy.
These eLearning, gig talks and hybrid training formats offer workers a basic orientation to platform work and fair working conditions. In addition, these courses provide information on gender and resilience, as well as important financial, social, and digital skills in the gig economy. With some modules targeting specific sectors of platform work such as online freelancers and courier services.
The training courses improve the knowledge of rights, inform on job and career opportunities and can lead to better working conditions and a higher income for gig workers.
To ensure that workers are able to adapt to a dynamic labor market, the Initiative has developed a number of online, data-driven tools that offer workers reliable information for negotiating fair working conditions.
For example:
- To provide workers with insights on the value of micro-credentials for their career development and advancement, an information tool on the value of micro-credentials has been launched.
- To provide workers with up-to-date and verified information on current costs of a gig, the Living Tariff Calculator has been launched in Kenya, Pakistan, Indonesia and India. The tool is based on the living wages database of the WageIndicator foundation and offers useful insights for workers, policy stakeholders and intermediary organisations.
- The UpSkill tool is being piloted globally. The aim is to identify desirable skills according to real time platform data in order to provide informed future skill development recommendations.
The Initiative has a strong focus on gender equality and maximising the potential of women workers. Special initiatives such as Mentorship & Peer-learning programme have been implemented to empower women workers and support their personal and professional growth.
A range of other training formats and training of trainers are being organised to achieve sustainable and long-term impact through intermediary organisations such as worker unions and allied organisations, labor institutes, employment agencies and community-based organisations.
Women leading digital – the podcast
Even though women make up half of the world’s population, men clearly outnumber women in the digital world. In 2023, 224 million more men used the internet than women – almost three times the German population. Without the internet, women lack access to information, education, networks, job platforms, financial products and services. This situation is called the digital divide and it is widening.
In the podcast “Women leading Digital”, we interview brilliant women who are developing new technology and shaping digital change worldwide – despite the challenges they face. We talk to them about the experience of working in a traditionally male-dominated field and what solutions they are developing to bridge the digital divide between genders.
Publications
Further information
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Learn to navigate the gig economy
E-learning courses for gig workers to maximise their potential and support moving in and out of the gig economy.
Overview of e-learning offers -
Registration page
for policystakeholder course: Understand the potentials and risks of digital labour platforms.
register here -
Re:publica 2023 : Click, Hire, Fire Improving the Global Reality and Future of Platform Work
with opening address from Svenja Schulze Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Watch the recording -
Informational tool on the value of micro-credentials
The training courses can lead to better working conditions and a higher income for gig workers.
Website -
Living Tariff Tool
for platform workers calculating the minimum income needed to meet a living wage according to local conditions.
Website -
Fairwork Summit
Fair Work on Digital Platforms.
Watch the recording -
Multi-Stakeholder-Dialogue
Policies towards fairer online gig work.
Watch the recording -
Interactive game 'A day in the life of a platform worker'
Experience a day as a rideshare driver.
Play the Game
Brazil’s gig workers
Jessica, Marcelo and Juliana are three of more than 600,000 Brazilian workers who take orders daily through digital labour platforms. Mostly without fair pay, labour protection or the right to organise collectively with other workers – effectively excluded from the protection of Brazilian labour law.
One click, another job for Jessica (24). She often manages three jobs a day. For Jessica, a working day usually lasts longer than 12 hours. Since she was 16, she has been working as a cleaner for clients in São Paulo who book her services via platforms. Actually, she wants to become a doctor.
To get to her jobs in the city, she travels more than three hours every day by bus and train through São Paulo. Two or three jobs a day mean a total of 12 hours of cleaning. Jessica tries to divide her time so that she is not in the way of her clients. She always talks to them in advance to find out what day and time is preferred and structures her day that way.
According to Jessica, the platform keeps at least half of the order amount as a service fee. Jobs in wealthier areas are more expensive for clients, but the hourly wage for Jessica remains the same.
Marcelo (55) lost his job in the advertising industry and started working as a driver for Uber. On the side, he also does private driving and offers surveillance services. He has already done a total of 13760 gig jobs.
For a brief moment, Marcelo is part of the lives of strangers: Some tell sad stories, some tell happy stories. There are people who really need to vent during the ride, then he feels like a psychologist for a short time. He tries to give the people advice when they are feeling bad, which usually earns him a lot of respect.
The apps give you the opportunity to be your own boss. Marcelo knows that you have to be even more disciplined to do this. You can set your own schedule, you can work at night, during the day, at dawn – or take a day off. But you have to have a goal in mind, because without it, it’s hard. Since you earn very little, you have to try methods to earn as much as possible in little time.
Single mother Juliana (34) has been working as a delivery person for platforms like iFood and Uber for three years and is on the road a lot. There is no support from the platforms, such as an emergency button for accidents, breakdowns or robberies, Juliana says. On the road, you are on your own – especially as a woman.
Juliana’s days are long and she is on her feet a lot. Food deliveries are only part of her job, she also works in a bar and sells sweets in the neighbourhood.
When they arrive at the order address, sentences like “Wow, she’s a woman, that’s why it took so long” are not uncommon. This ignores the fact that Juliana only needed five minutes to make the delivery. It was the restaurant that took more time to provide Juliana with the delivery. However, she gets the reaction.
Photos © Fairwork / Rafael Vilela
