Digital Platforms, Gig Economy, Precarious Employment, and the Invisible Hand of Social Class
Abstract
Digital platform capitalism, as exemplified by companies like Uber or Lyft has the potential to transform employment and working conditions for an increasing segment of the worforce. Most digital economy workers are exposed to the health damaging precarious employment conditions characteristic of the contemporary working class in high income countries. Just as with Guy Standing or Mike Savage’s “precariat” it might appear that digital platform workers are a new social class or that they do not belong to any social class. Yet the class conflict interests (wages, benefits, employment and working conditions, collective action) of digital platform workers are similar to other members of the working class.
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Studies conducted in high income countries document that a growing number of workers are employed in occupations which are characterized as precarious.
“Studies conducted in high income countries document that a growing number of workers are employed in occupations which are characterized as precarious (5–8).”
From Large language model exposure and precarious occupations: Unpacking relationships in the Canadian labor force (2026) · cites this paper as [7]
A lot of crowdwork and gigwork is highly flexible, has non-regular hours, which can have a negative impact on work-life balance and affect physical and mental health and personal relations.
“A lot of crowdwork and gigwork is highly flexible, has non-regular hours, which can have a negative impact on work-life balance and affect physical and mental health and personal relations as a result (Muntaner 2018;Allan et al. 2021).”
From Artificial intelligence and work: a critical review of recent research from the social sciences (2024) · cites this paper as Muntaner 2018
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Precarious work in the 21st century: A psychological perspective
Allan, B. A., Autin, K. L., & Wilkins-Yel, K. G. (2021) · Journal of Vocational Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.jvb.2020.103491 · Cited by 231 · see citing works
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Artificial intelligence and work: a critical review of recent research from the social sciences
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“A lot of crowdwork and gigwork is highly flexible, has non-regular hours, which can have a negative impact on work–life balance and affect physical and mental health and personal relations as a result (Muntaner 2018; Allan et al. 2021).”
Jetha, A., Liao, Q., Smith, P., Vu, V., Biswas, A., Smith, B., & Vahid Shahidi, F. (2026) · Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health · doi:10.5271/sjweh.4312
- Authors
- Muntaner, C.
- Affiliations
- University of Toronto (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Muntaner, Carles
- ORCID
- Muntaner, Carles
- Venue
- International Journal of Health Services
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2018-09-13
- Volume
- 48
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 597-600
- ISSN
- 0020-7314 (ISSN-L)
- 1541-4469
- OpenAlex
- W2891141282
- Cited by
- 136
- References
- 12
- Citations by year
- 2026: 12 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 22 · 2021: 28 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 8
- FWCI
- 26.17
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- International Journal of Health Services (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Digital Economy and Work Transformation
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Industrial relations › Legal and Labor Studies
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Employment, Labor, and Gender Studies
- Keywords
- gig economy, precarious employment, precariat, social class, working class, working conditions, platform workers, health of workers, class struggle, collective action, Uber, Lyft
- MeSH terms
- Employment, Humans, Social Class, United States, Health Status Disparities, Social Determinants of Health
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