WORK IN THE EUROPEAN GIG ECONOMY

EMPLOYMENT IN THE ERA OF ONLINE PLATFORMS

There is much talk about the disruptive potential of digitalisation and the sharing economy on labour markets. But surprisingly little is known about the realities of ‘gig work’ and the new types of employment created by online platforms. Is it a liberating new form of self- employ-ment or a new form of exploitation? How many workers are doing it? Who are they? Is it their main source of income or a top-up to other kinds of work? What is the reality of their working lives? And what are the implications of these new realities for public policy in Europe?

Discover infographics and download the full report on www.feps-europe.eu

Authors: Ursula Huws, Neil H. Spencer, Dag S. Syrdal, Kaire HoltsRESEARCH RESULTS FROM THE UK, SWEDEN, GERMANY, AUSTRIA, THE NETHERLANDS, SWITZERLAND AND ITALY

THE MOST PREVALENT ONLINE INCOME-GENERATING ACTIVITY IS SELLING GOODS

MORE THAN HALF OF CROWD WORKERS DO IT REGULARLY

Participation in the online economy as a source of income, by country Frequency of crowd work amongst crowd workers, by country

1 2

SELL/RESELL

ON OWNWEBSITE

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%

18%18%

12%23%

13%12%

10%15%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%

21%14%

12%20%

9%10%10%

14%

ANYCROWD

WORK

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%

19%18%

12%22%

9%10%9%

14%0% 5% 10% 15% 20%

16%12%11%

17%

11%

8%8%8%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

45%48%

32%39%

25%13%

31%33%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

66%65%

55%50%

62%59%

54%58%

RESELLPRODUCTSON ONLINE

MARKETPLACE(e.g. Amazon)

SELL SELF-MADEPRODUCTS

(e.g. Etsy)

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%

18%18%

12%23%

13%12%

10%15%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%

21%14%

12%20%

9%10%10%

14%

RENT TOPAYINGGUEST

(e.g. Airbnb)

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%

19%18%

12%22%

9%10%9%

14%0% 5% 10% 15% 20%

16%12%11%

17%

11%

8%8%8%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

45%48%

32%39%

25%13%

31%33%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

66%65%

55%50%

62%59%

54%58%

SELL OWNPOSSESSIONS

(e.g. Ebay)

AT CH DE IT NL SE UK EUR AT CH DE IT NL SE UK EUR

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

50

68

55

7066

52

69

55

65

51

62

50

67

53

71

57

WEE

KLY

MO

NTH

LY

WEE

KLY

MO

NTH

LY

WEE

KLY

MO

NTH

LY

WEE

KLY

MO

NTH

LY

WEE

KLY

MO

NTH

LY

WEE

KLY

MO

NTH

LY

WEE

KLY

MO

NTH

LY

WEE

KLY

MO

NTH

LY

FEMALE MALE

Male 56 %

Female 44%

EUR44%

56%

NL44%

56%

SE39%

61%

UK52%

48%

AT

59%

41%CH

43%

57%

DE39%

61%

IT52%

48%

AT

CH

DE

IT

NL

SE

UK

EUR

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

25%

25%

23%

25%

21%

20%

20%

15%

12%

14%

20% 31% 17% 17% 15%

17% 22% 23% 21% 17%

19% 23% 24% 17% 17%

21% 30% 22% 12% 15%

22% 29% 20% 16% 14%

29% 30% 17% 14% 11%

up to 24 | 25-34 | 35-44 | 45-54 | 55+

WHO ARE THE CROWD WORKERS?

Any crowd work, by gender (%)

3CROWD WORKING IS NOT ONLY FOR MILLENNIALS

Age of crowd workers, by country (%)

4

CROWD WORK IS GENERALLY A COMPLEMENT TO OTHER INCOMES BUT FOR SOME IS THE MAIN INCOME SOURCE

PEOPLE WHO ALREADY HAVE A FULL TIME JOB ALSO PARTICIPATE IN CROWD WORK

Earnings from crowd work as a proportion of all personal income up to 10% | 10% to 75% | 75% to all Employment status of crowd workers, by country (%)

AT CH DE IT NL SE UK EUR

6

AT

41%40%

18%

UP TO 10 : 41%

10 to 75% : 40%

75% to all : 18%

CH16%

33%51%

UP TO 10 : 33%

10 to 75% : 51%

75% to all : 16%

DE19%

51%30%

UP TO 10 : 51%

10 to 75% : 30%

75% to all : 19%

IT19%

36%44%

UP TO 10 : 36%

10 to 75% : 44%

75% to all : 19%

NL10%

44%46%

UP TO 10 : 44%

10 to 75% : 46%

75% to all : 10%

SE18%

48%34%

UP TO 10 : 48%

10 to 75% : 34%

75% to all : 18%

UK8%

58%33%

UP TO 10 : 58%

10 to 75% : 33%

75% to all : 8%

EUR15%

44%40%

UP TO 10 : 44%

10 to 75% : 40%

75% to all : 15%

5

up to 10 | 10 to 75% | 75% to all

SELFEMPLOYED

EMPLOYEDFULL-TIME

FULL-TIMEPARENT

RETIRED

EMPLOYEDPART-TIME

STUDENT/PUPIL

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

52%52%

58%41%

48%55%

52%51%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%

12%21%

10%16%

21%13%13%15%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

52%52%

58%41%

48%55%

52%51%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%

12%21%

10%16%

21%13%13%15%

0% 3% 6% 9% 12% 15%

12%9%9%

7%10%

12%13%

10%0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10%

3%

4%3%

10%3%

0%4%4%

0% 3% 6% 9% 12% 15%

12%9%9%

7%10%

12%13%

10%0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10%

3%

4%3%

10%3%

0%4%4%

0% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 6%

3%5%

4%6%

1%1%

3%3%

0% 3% 6% 9% 12% 15%

12%5%

11%13%

8%11%

9%10%

0% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 6%

3%5%

4%6%

1%1%

3%3%

0% 3% 6% 9% 12% 15%

12%5%

11%13%

8%11%

9%10%

© FEPS, UNI Europa, University of HertfordshireWith the financial support of the European Parliament

Responsibility for the information and views expressed in the book lies entirely with the authors.

Published by

FEPS – FOUNDATION FOR EUROPEAN PROGRESSIVE STUDIESRue Montoyer, 40 - 1000 Brussels, Belgium

www.feps-europe.eu - info@feps-europe.eu

UNI EUROPA Rue Joseph II, 40 - 1000 Brussels uni-europa@uniglobalunion

HERTFORDSHIRE BUSINESS SCHOOL, UNIVERSITY OF HERTFORDSHIRECollege Lane, Hatfield, AL10 9AB, UK

THE DEFINITION OF CROWD WORKING INCLUDES ANY RESPONDENTS WHO SAID THAT THEY HAD EVER SOLD THEIR LABOUR VIA AN ONLINE PLATFORM IN ANY OF THE FOLLOWING THREE CATEGORIES:

1. Carrying out work from your own home for a website such as Upwork, Freelancer, Timeetc, Clickworker or PeoplePerHour2.

2. Carrying out work for different customers somewhere outside your home on a website such as Handy, Taskrabbit or Mybuilder.

3. Carrying out work involving driving someone to a location for a fee using an app or website such as Uber or Blablacar.

The EUR figures is the average from the seven countries surveys

This joint research project was launched in January 2016, by the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS), UNI Europa and carried out by the University of Hertfordshire.

With the financial support of the European Parliament. Co-funding for national surveys was provided by the Trade Union Unionen in Sweden, the TNO Research Institute in the Netherlands, The Chamber of Labour (AK) in Austria, the Trade Unions Ver.di and IG Metall in Germany, the Trade Union Syndicom in Switzerland and the Fondazione EYU in Italy. Fieldwork for the surveys in these seven countries was carried out by Ipsos MORI between January 2016 and April 2017. The report also draws on 15 in-depth qualitative interviews with crowd workers, which form part of an ongoing project. In 2018n the project will be expanded to other European countries, such as Estonia, France, Greece, etc…