Digital technological platforms – an opportunity or a threat to quality work?

Abstract

Digital technological platforms that facilitate the provision of many services are a relatively new development in the economy, especially in the labour market. As they are becoming increasingly prevalent, the characteristics of this business model are gradually revealed. The model creates many novel ways to make goods available and generate income, but it also translates into a new quality of work. In the discussion of the labour market segment operating based on technological platforms, the world literature tends to employ the concepts of the gig economy and cybertariat, which are unequivocally negative in their connotations. The paper discusses the relationship between technological innovations and work. It aims to determine the characteristics of work carried out through digital technological platforms in the cross-section of the major dimensions of quality work. The paper presents the verification of the research hypothesis assuming that the business model adopted by digital technological platforms threatens the standards of quality work. The analysis uses the methodology designed by the author and employs the criteria developed by the European Anti-Poverty Network, constituting the quintessence of the contemporary approach to the issue in the European Union. Its main conclusion is that the gig economy segment is highly heterogeneous, which makes it difficult to assess and discuss the problems arising in this segment and their solutions. In consequence, it requires a clarification through adequate classifications and identification of problem groups. However, the research results reveal that a significant part of the gig economy generates very low quality work.