Abstract
Crowdsourcing firms, their client firms and the government in Japan have advocated that crowd work provides opportunities for workers to enjoy autonomous working practices, enabling subpopulations such as women and the elderly who would otherwise be excluded from the labour market to find employment. This is far from the case. Instead, crowdsourcing is perhaps better considered a means, enabled by technological advances, by which to flexibilise the labour market. We have been witnessing a shift in the forms of domination and control imposed on labour from a direct, physical and onsite type of control to an indirect mechanism of domination that has rendered workers less visible while suppressing wages. This further implies that the paradoxical autonomy of crowd work is embedded in contemporary antagonism in Japanese employment relations.
Highlights
The digital economy continues to play a widely acknowledged role in transforming employment relations
Commentary on this new form of employment directs most attention to the opportunities it creates for workers, which is especially evident in Japan, where female and elderly workers seek flexible work
This, enables employers who hire crowd workers to exploit the absence of regulations. Crowdsourcing firms, their clients and the government advocate that crowd work provides opportunities for workers to enjoy autonomous working practices, enabling subpopulations such as women and the elderly who would otherwise be excluded from the labour market to find employment
Summary
The digital economy continues to play a widely acknowledged role in transforming employment relations. Commentary on this new form of employment directs most attention to the opportunities it creates for workers, which is especially evident in Japan, where female and elderly workers seek flexible work Rather than generating opportunities, crowd work in Japan has instead contributed to creating a new group of vulnerable and impoverished non-regular workers within the Japanese labour market.
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