Flexibility in the Gig Economy: Managing Time on Three Online Piecework Platforms

Mapping Intimacies ◽

10.31235/osf.io/k3hy4 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Vili Lehdonvirta

Keyword(s):

Mechanical Turk ◽

Structural Constraints ◽

Cognitive Constraints ◽

Full Control ◽

Gig Economy ◽

Flexible Working ◽

Temporal Flexibility ◽

Informal Practices

Gig economy platforms seem to provide extreme temporal flexibility to workers, giving them full control over how to spend each hour and minute of the day. What constraints do workers face when attempting to exercise this flexibility? We use 30 worker interviews and other data to compare three online piecework platforms with differing histories and worker demographics: Mechanical Turk, MobileWorks, and CloudFactory. We find that structural constraints (availability of work and degree of worker dependence on the work), as well as cultural-cognitive constraints (procrastination and presenteeism), limit worker control over scheduling in practice. The severity of these constraints varies significantly between platforms, the formally freest platform presenting the greatest structural and cultural-cognitive constraints. We also find that workers have developed informal practices, tools, and communities to address these constraints. We conclude that focusing on outcomes rather than control is a more fruitful way to assess flexible working arrangements.

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Mechanical Turk and the gig economy: exploring differences between gig workers

Journal of Managerial Psychology ◽

10.1108/jmp-06-2018-0228 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 34 (4) ◽

pp. 286-306 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Melissa G. Keith ◽

Peter Harms ◽

Louis Tay

Keyword(s):

Life Satisfaction ◽

Mechanical Turk ◽

Future Research ◽

Pull Factors ◽

Content Type ◽

Gig Economy ◽

Large Numbers ◽

Work Units ◽

Regular Work ◽

Push And Pull

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide an investigation of how different types of gig workers engage in the gig economy. Specifically, the authors distinguish between workers who view gig work as primary income (or not) and those workers who view it as a job (or not). Design/methodology/approach In total, 1,190 Mechanical Turk (MTurk) workers completed surveys across two studies examining whether types of workers differ based on demographic characteristics, utilization of MTurk, why they participate in the gig economy on MTurk (i.e. push and pull factors) and how this impacts life satisfaction. Findings Workers relying on MTurk as a primary income had lower incomes and spent more time completing large numbers of work units. This group of workers also reported fewer pull factors (e.g. enjoyment) as a reason for working in the gig economy and had lower levels of self-reported current and predicted future life satisfaction. Individuals who view MTurk as a job were more likely to treat MTurk like a job – engaging in online communities and having a regular work schedule. These workers were more likely to report pull factors (e.g. enjoyment and challenge) and did not differ on life satisfaction. Originality/value The current research contributes to our understanding of MTurk, one of the largest online platforms for gig work, as part of the diverse gig economy and highlights potential areas for future research.

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A new twist on the gig economy: conducting surveys on Amazon Mechanical Turk

Transportation ◽

10.1007/s11116-018-9962-8 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 47 (1) ◽

pp. 23-42 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Laurie A. Garrow ◽

Ziran Chen ◽

Mohammad Ilbeigi ◽

Virginie Lurkin

Keyword(s):

Mechanical Turk ◽

Amazon Mechanical Turk ◽

Gig Economy

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Beyond Mechanical Turk: The Work of Brazilians on Global AI Platforms

10.16997/book55.n ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 247-266

Author(s):

Rafael Grohmann ◽

Willian Fernandes Araújo

Keyword(s):

Artificial Intelligence ◽

Latin America ◽

Global Value Chains ◽

Digital Economy ◽

Mechanical Turk ◽

Value Chains ◽

Digital Labor ◽

Gig Economy ◽

Global North

The aim of this chapter is to analyse the micro-work of Brazilians on global artificial intelligence platforms. In context of platformisation of labour, we show that artificial intelligence still requires a lot of human work, leading to global value chains and a global gig economy. In a digital economy, there are inequalities involving local workers and global platforms. At present, however, most research on micro-work focuses on the Global North. Latin America remains a blindspot. This research investigates the micro-work of Brazilians on two specific platforms, Appen and Lionbridge. This research reveal that micro-work is closely intertwined with the historical informality of labour in the country, a gig economy that existed prior to digital labor itself. There is no ‘digital labour universalism’. Rather, there is an AI colonialism reinforcing North–South inequalities from a platform labour perspective.

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Presenting Amazon's Mechanical Turk as more than just a data sample – A study of MTurker experiences

The Irish Journal of Management ◽

10.2478/ijm-2020-0006 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 0 (0) ◽

Author(s):

Jestine Philip ◽

Mark A Davis

Keyword(s):

Life Satisfaction ◽

Mechanical Turk ◽

Lower Stress ◽

Research And Practice ◽

Gig Economy ◽

Practice Gaps ◽

Organisational Behaviour ◽

Amazon's Mechanical Turk ◽

Psychology Of Working ◽

Work And Life

Abstract Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk) is an online crowdsourcing platform that is part of the digital gig economy, where MTurkers perform fast and repetitive gigs or microwork like taking surveys and performing data transcriptions, and are compensated for each completed task. The purpose of this research is to understand the work- and life-related implications for MTurkers. Drawing from the Psychology of Working Theory (PWT), we examined the role that income and volition play in determining satisfaction and stress among MTurkers. Results revealed that high volition MTurkers had higher job satisfaction, higher life satisfaction, and lower stress than low volition MTurkers. These findings help extend PWT to this contemporary and evolving form of working in the digital gig economy. Management scholars view gig work as an emerging trend and an addition to the list of notable research and practice gaps in organisational behaviour.

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Temporal Flexibility: Management Strategies and Employee Preferences in the Retail Industry

Journal of Industrial Relations ◽

10.1177/002218569403600302 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 36 (3) ◽

pp. 332-352 ◽

Cited By ~ 44

Author(s):

Stephen J. Deery ◽

Andrea Mahony

Keyword(s):

Management Strategies ◽

Working Hours ◽

Services Sector ◽

Staffing Levels ◽

Employee Preferences ◽

Flexible Working Hours ◽

Flexible Working ◽

Temporal Flexibility ◽

Retail Services ◽

Utilization Strategy

The introduction of more flexible working time arrangements has become an important managerial objective in Australia. This is particularly the case in the retail services sector where management has sought to obtain greater freedom to match staffing levels more closely to fluctuations in the volume of customer demand. Such arrangements may not, however, be in accordance with employee preferences. The aim of this paper is to examine the issue of temporal flexibility by looking at the employment policies of a large retailing firm as well as the attitudes of its employees to the introduction of flexible working hours. Contradictions are identified in the company's labour utilization strategy, which have attendant costs for both the employees and the organization.

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Flexible working: Science in the gig economy

Nature ◽

10.1038/nj7676-419a ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 550 (7676) ◽

pp. 419-421 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Roberta Kwok

Keyword(s):

Gig Economy ◽

Flexible Working

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Automated electron tomography: from data collection to image processing

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100136507 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 53 ◽

pp. 26-27

Author(s):

Weiping Liu ◽

Jennifer Fung ◽

W.J. de Ruijter ◽

Hans Chen ◽

John W. Sedat ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Image Processing ◽

Data Collection ◽

Structural Information ◽

Imaging Technique ◽

Electron Tomography ◽

Ccd Camera ◽

Automated Data Collection ◽

Full Control ◽

Transmission Electron ◽

Amorphous Structures

Electron tomography is a technique where many projections of an object are collected from the transmission electron microscope (TEM), and are then used to reconstruct the object in its entirety, allowing internal structure to be viewed. As vital as is the 3-D structural information and with no other 3-D imaging technique to compete in its resolution range, electron tomography of amorphous structures has been exercised only sporadically over the last ten years. Its general lack of popularity can be attributed to the tediousness of the entire process starting from the data collection, image processing for reconstruction, and extending to the 3-D image analysis. We have been investing effort to automate all aspects of electron tomography. Our systems of data collection and tomographic image processing will be briefly described.To date, we have developed a second generation automated data collection system based on an SGI workstation (Fig. 1) (The previous version used a micro VAX). The computer takes full control of the microscope operations with its graphical menu driven environment. This is made possible by the direct digital recording of images using the CCD camera.

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Control in Flexible Working Arrangements

Journal of Personnel Psychology ◽

10.1027/1866-5888/a000121 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 14 (2) ◽

pp. 61-69 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Cornelia Gerdenitsch ◽

Bettina Kubicek ◽

Christian Korunka

Keyword(s):

Self Determination Theory ◽

Digital Natives ◽

Self Determination ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Similar Extent ◽

Decision Latitude ◽

Media Technologies ◽

Exploratory Approach ◽

Flexible Working ◽

Temporal And Spatial

Supported by media technologies, today’s employees can increasingly decide when and where to work. The present study examines positive and negative aspects of this temporal and spatial flexibility, and the perceptions of control in these situations based on propositions of self-determination theory. Using an exploratory approach we conducted semi-structured interviews with 45 working digital natives. Participants described positive and negative situations separately for temporal and spatial flexibility, and rated the extent to which they felt autonomous and externally controlled. Situations appraised positively were best described by decision latitude, while negatively evaluated ones were best described by work–nonwork conflict. Positive situations were perceived as autonomous rather than externally controlled; negative situations were rated as autonomously and externally controlled to a similar extent.

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