Gig economy workers are more likely to recommend the platform/organisation they work through with 66% saying it’s “a great place to work” compared to 53% of non-platform workers. This is according to research by Collective Benefits who analysed the wants and needs of 2000 workers in the UK, 1000 of whom were platform workers.
|
Platform Workers |
Non-platform Workers |
||
| How satisfied are you with your work? | Mostly / completely satisfied |
44% |
45% |
| Mostly / completely dissatisfied |
3% |
6% |
|
| Do you recommend your workplace as a “great place to work”? | Strongly / somewhat agree |
66% |
53% |
| Strongly / somewhat disagree |
8% |
21% |
|
After flexibility over working hours, times, or location, the next most frequently cited reason for choosing a platform to work on is good rates of pay (36% of responses). Most platform workers think they are paid fairly, given their achievements, skills and responsibilities.
Platform work is often criticised for not taking account of unpaid time, such as waiting for a task or travelling, and survey respondents were asked to explicitly consider this. The majority still feel that they are paid appropriately:
To what extent do you think you are paid appropriately considering the costs you incur in order to work (eg. transport between jobs, fuel or insurance) and time spent waiting for jobs, or travelling to them?
- Strongly agree: 26%
- Somewhat agree: 45%
- Neither agree nor disagree: 20%
- Somewhat disagree: 7%
- Strongly disagree: 3%
However there are downsides, with 46% of platform economy workers surveyed saying that they suffered a physical injury as a result of work in the last twelve months, with injuries ranging from cuts and bruises to broken bones. 50% reported experiencing a mental health issue, such as anxiety or depression.
Plus, these workers have fewer protections; 79% said that they do not have access to paid sick leave. This explains why 36% of platform economy workers report feeling unable to take time off work when ill, as they can’t afford to miss out on the pay. For their non-platform peers, the figure falls to 17%.
Overall, nearly 90% of platform workers in the UK would value some form of benefits and protections over more pay.
Despite the downsides, encouragingly, 64% of platform economy workers find their work meaningful – a similar response to their non-platform peers.
Anthony Beilin, founder of Collective Benefits said their research “cuts through some of the often overblown rhetoric about work in the platform economy. It is a source of work which people find satisfying, meaningful, fairly paid and that they can fit flexibly around their family and social commitments.”
