Social equity & labour

Gig Economy

Meaning statusEstablishedSource recordDirect document linkedWhy these are different

Definition

The gig economy is a labour market based on temporary, flexible, task-by-task work, typically arranged through digital platforms, in which workers are usually engaged as independent contractors rather than employees. It overlaps with what the ILO calls platform work and what statisticians class as non-standard employment — temporary, part-time, on-call, and self-employment arrangements.

References

ILOPlatform work and the employment relationship (labels: gig economy, on-demand economy, crowd employment; platform work as umbrella term)

terminology and scope

TUAC (citing OECD)Non-standard and platform work (platform workers face greater job insecurity, lower earnings, less access to benefits)

working-conditions evidence

Overview

What it means

Gig work offers flexibility and low barriers to entry but shifts risk onto workers: no minimum hours, limited access to social protection, sick pay, or collective bargaining, and algorithmic management that controls prices and access to work. The classification of platform workers — employee, self-employed, or a third category — is a live legal battle in many jurisdictions.

How it is used

The concept structures debates on labour rights in the digital economy, EU platform-work regulation, social-protection reform, and corporate social responsibility for platforms.

Why it matters

Decent work is SDG 8: the gig economy tests whether employment protections built for the 20th-century firm can survive the platform model — a core social-sustainability question.