Gig economy as a form of modern work practices: scientific discourse and practical aspects

Abstract
The article contains the argumentation of the gig economy in the context of labor organization in the first half of the XXI century. Approaches to understanding the gig economy in the social and labor dimension are generalized. The authors emphasize the ambiguity and divergence of researchers’ opinions and the multidimensional perception of the gig economy by practitioners and analysts. The authors' concept of the gig economy emphasizes the "binding" to digital platforms and the status of employee independence by identifying opportunities and threats that gig economy produces for labor subjects. It is proved that the formation of gig economy is primarily associated with the development of information and communication online platforms and the increase in the stratum of the labor force that falls under the status of an independent, self-employed worker. The quintessence of the article is the authors’ hypothesis that gig economy is one of the segments of the new economy, which embodies the economy of precarious employment. The article represents technological platforms' interpretations of generalization, showing the ambivalence of their understanding; the fundamental components of technical platforms as prerequisites for forming and scaling the gig economy are highlighted. Positions of researchers and representatives of the expert community regarding the vision of employment in the gig economy concept are highlighted; the conceptual characteristics of gig economy in the context of employment are defined. The stratification groupings of the labor force from the point of view of attracting an alternative labor force (the so-called gig workers) are presented. Motivational factors and attitudes of gig workers are revealed. The authors prove the diversity of the digital platforms’ impact on the labor market and organizational environment with arguments for destructive and constructive effects. Factual data on economic, geographical, and professional aspects of expanding the gig economy’s scale are presented. In the authors' understanding, the gig economy, alternatively called the "1099 economy", is presented as a new economic model with a particular social and labor dimension, covering various forms of short-term employment, where none of the employed have the status of a salaried employee.
Description
Keywords
gig economy, gig platforms, enablers, disruptors, employment, labor market, gig workers
Citation
Kolot A. Gig economy as a form of modern work practices: scientific discourse and practical aspects / Anatolii Kolot, Oksana Herasymenko, Anna Shevchenko // Věda a perspektivy : multidisciplinární mezinárodní vědecký magazín / [red. rady: K. Nedbálek (šéfred.) a další]. – Praha, 2023. – № 2. – S. 9–23.