
Alex Wood is a sociologist of work and employment, focusing on the changing nature of employment relations and labour markets. As a member of the iLabour project, he is currently researching worker voice, organisation and action in the online gig economy.
Dr Alex J Wood
Research Associate
Profile
Alex J. Wood is a sociologist of work and employment, focusing on the changing nature of employment relations and labour market transformation.
Alex previously researched online labour markets and virtual employment relations in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia as part of the “Microwork and Virtual Production Networks in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia” project. This project investigates the economic and social implications of new forms of economic activities in the context of ICTs for development.
Alex completed his PhD at the University of Cambridge Department of Sociology where he also worked as Research Associate on an ESRC impact acceleration project to evaluate potential ways of reducing workplace stress resulting from insecure scheduling.
Alex’s PhD (2015) is titled the “The insecure worker: workplace control in the 21st Century”. His PhD focuses on the changing nature of flexible and insecure forms of work such as zero hour contracts. New patterns of working-time flexibility and how this relates to insecurity, well-being, and issues of workplace control and resistance being central to account developed.
He also has a long standing interest in the relationships between industrial relations, union renewal and emerging forms of workplace representation and new patterns of class and inequality.
Previously he received his MPhil in Sociology from the University of Cambridge (2011) with distinction. He received a first class BSc (hons) degree in Politics and Sociology, from Aston University (2009).
Research interests
Job insecurity; firm flexibility; workplace control and resistance; industrial relations; union renewal and new forms of workplace representation; sociology of labour markets; economic sociology; class and inequality; online and digital labour.
Positions held at the OII
- Research Associate, October 2019 –
- Researcher, November 2015 – September 2019
Research
Current projects
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iLabour: The Construction of Labour Markets, Institutions and Movements on the Internet
Participants: Professor Vili Lehdonvirta, Dr Otto Kässi, Greetje (Gretta) Corporaal, Dr Alex J. Wood
The iLabour project is premised on the idea that a fundamental change is taking place in labour markets. It seeks to understand the social and policy implications of this momentous shift.
Past projects
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Microwork and Virtual Production Networks in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia
Participants: Professor Mark Graham, Dr Isis Hjorth, Professor Vili Lehdonvirta, Dr Alex J Wood, Professor Helena Barnard
This project aims to understand the implications of gig economy and online freelancing for economic development.
Featured
- (2019) "The Taylor Review: understanding the gig economy, dependency and the complexities of control", New Technology, Work and Employment. 34 (2) 111-115.
- (2019) "Networked but Commodified: The (Dis)Embeddedness of Digital Labour in the Gig Economy", Sociology. 53 (5) 931-950.
- (2019) "Towards a new web of rules: An international review of institutional experimentation to strengthen employment protections", Employee Relations. 41 (2) 313-330.
- (2018) "Powerful Times: Flexible Discipline and Schedule Gifts at Work", Work, Employment and Society. 32 (6) 1061-1077.
- (2018) "Good gig, bad gig: autonomy and algorithmic control in the global gig economy", Work, Employment and Society. 33 (1) 56-75.
- (2018) "Workers of the Internet Unite? Online Freelancer Organisation Among Remote Gig Economy Workers in Six Asian and African Countries", New Technology, Work and Employment. 33 (2) 95-112.
- (2016) "Flexible scheduling, degradation of job quality and barriers to collective voice", Human Relations. 69 (10) 1989-2010.
- (2015) "Networks of injustice and worker mobilisation at Walmart", Industrial Relations Journal. 46 (4) 259-274.
Chapters
- (2018) "Unemployment and Well-Being" In: Cambridge Handbook of Psychological and Economic Behaviour Lewis, A. (eds.) 2nd. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 234-259.
- (2017) "'You Are Never Secure'" In: World Factory Svendsen, Z. and Daw, S. (eds.). London: Nick Hern Books. 324-327.
Conference papers
- (2016) "Virtual Production Networks: Fixing Commodification and Disembeddedness", Development Studies Association 2016. DSA 2016: Development Studies Association Conference.
- (2016) "The new frontier of outsourcing: online labour markets and the consequences for poverty in the Global South.", Work, Employment and Society Conference. SAGE Publications (UK and US).
- (2016) "Temporal flexibility: scheduling gifts and the obscuring of employment relations", British Universities Industrial Relations Association Conference 2016. British Universities Industrial Relations Association (BUIRA).
- (2016) "Virtual Production Networks: Fixing Commodification and Disembeddedness", GPNs and social upgrading: labour and beyond - WorkshopWorkshop: GPNs and social upgrading: labour and beyond.
- (2014) "The Rise of the Network Labour Movement: the Case of OUR Walmart", British Universities Industrial Relations Association Conference 2014. British Universities Industrial Relations Association (BUIRA).
- (2013) "Flexible despotism: workplace control in the informational age", Work, Employment and Society Conference 2013. SAGE Publications (UK and US).
Journal articles
- (2019) "The Taylor Review: understanding the gig economy, dependency and the complexities of control", New Technology, Work and Employment. 34 (2) 111-115.
- (2019) "Networked but Commodified: The (Dis)Embeddedness of Digital Labour in the Gig Economy", Sociology. 53 (5) 931-950.
- (2019) "Towards a new web of rules: An international review of institutional experimentation to strengthen employment protections", Employee Relations. 41 (2) 313-330.
- (2018) "Powerful Times: Flexible Discipline and Schedule Gifts at Work", Work, Employment and Society. 32 (6) 1061-1077.
- (2018) "Good gig, bad gig: autonomy and algorithmic control in the global gig economy", Work, Employment and Society. 33 (1) 56-75.
- (2018) "Workers of the Internet Unite? Online Freelancer Organisation Among Remote Gig Economy Workers in Six Asian and African Countries", New Technology, Work and Employment. 33 (2) 95-112.
- (2017) "Book review: Lina Dencik and Peter Wilkin, Worker Resistance and Media: Challenging Global Corporate Power in the 21st Century DencikLinaWilkinPeterWorker Resistance and Media: Challenging Global Corporate Power in the 21st CenturyNew York: Peter Lang, 2015; £25 pbk, (ISBN: 9781433124983), 260 pp.", Work, employment and society. 31 (5) 880-881.
- (2016) "Flexible scheduling, degradation of job quality and barriers to collective voice", Human Relations. 69 (10) 1989-2010.
- (2015) "Book review: Tom Malleson, After Occupy: Economic Democracy for the 21st Century", Work, Employment and Society. 29 (5) 884-886.
- (2015) "Zero Hours Employment: A New Temporality of Capitalism?", Reviews & Critical Commentary (CritCom).
- (2015) "Networks of injustice and worker mobilisation at Walmart", Industrial Relations Journal. 46 (4) 259-274.
Reports
- (2017) "The Risks and Rewards of Online Gig Work At the Global Margins" In: The Risks and Rewards of Online Gig Work At the Global Margins. Oxford: Oxford Internet Institute.
- (2016) "From Zero Joy to Zero Stress: Making Flexible Scheduling Work - The University of Cambridge Zero2Zero Workshops" In: From zero joy to zero stress: making flexible scheduling work - the university of Cambridge Zero2Zero workshops. Cambridge University Zero2Zero Workshops.
- (2014) "Zero hour contracts as a Source of job insecurity" In: Report submitted March 2014 to the UK Government Department of Business Innovation and Skills Consultation on Zero Hour Contracts and presented at the International Labour Process Conference. Individual in the Labour Market Research Group, Cambridge University.
- (2013) "Organising the future" In: A report for the Union of Shop, Distribution and Allied Workers (USDAW). University of Cambridge.
Other
- (2018) "The power of social media as a labour campaigning tool: lessons from OUR Walmart and the Fight for 15", ETUI Policy Brief N° 10/2018.European Economic, Employment and Social Policy. Brussels: European Trade Union Institute. 1-6.
Internet publications
- (2018) Post-work fallacies and the social reproduction of capitalism. Bristol University Press.
- (2018) The government consultation on employment classification and control: a response.
- (2017) Minimum wages on online labour platforms: a response to the ETUI and IG Metall's request for commentOxford Internet Institute Working Papers. Oxford Internet Institute.
- (2016) Why the digital gig economy needs co-ops and unions. openDemocracy.
Videos
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Workers of the Internet Unite? Online freelancer organisation among remote gig economy workers
Recorded: 22 October 2018
Duration: 00:03:13
Dr Alex Wood from the Oxford Internet Institute presents findings regarding collective organisation among online freelancers in middle-income countries.
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Good gig, bad gig: working conditions in the global digital gig economy
Recorded: 8 August 2018
Duration: 00:02:13
New research from the OII reveals poor working conditions for workers in the digital gig economy.
News
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Gig economy platforms causing “unpaid labour” among workers in developing world
28 February 2019
Gig economy platforms causing “unpaid labour” among workers in developing world
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New research reveals the poor quality working conditions of the digital gig economy
8 August 2018
New research reveals the poor quality working conditions of the digital gig economy
Blog
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Government response to the Taylor Review: Good news on zero hour contracts but delay on gig economy
7 February 2018
Author: Alex Wood
Today the government released their response to the Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices. The government’s recognition that good quality work is important is ...
Read More Government response to the Taylor Review: Good news on zero hour contracts but delay on gig economy -
Variable geographies of protest among online gig workers
13 February 2017
Author: Alex Wood
Millions of people across the planet use online labour platforms to make their living as part of the global gig or platform economy. One ...
Read More Variable geographies of protest among online gig workers -
Uber: risk without autonomy or control
1 November 2016
Author: Alex Wood
Dr Alex J. Wood discussed the implications of the recent UK Uber Employment Tribunal ruling on BBC News. The court decided that Uber must ...
Read More Uber: risk without autonomy or control -
It’s a matter of time: can Deliveroo deliver collective bargaining for the gig economy?
16 August 2016
Author: Alex Wood
Last week ‘gig’ workers took to the streets in a show of public discontent. London’s Deliveroo couriers (moped or cycle riding workers who pick ...
Read More It’s a matter of time: can Deliveroo deliver collective bargaining for the gig economy? -
Digital Transformations of Work
28 January 2016
Author: Alex Wood
The conference will explore issues such as the degree to which information technology is transforming capitalism and opening up new means of exploitation, whether ...
Read More Digital Transformations of Work -
Tracing employment rights through online labour markets
25 November 2015
Author: Alex Wood
Online labour markets represent a rapidly growing feature of the world of work. Dozens of international online market places exist for the buying and ...
Read More Tracing employment rights through online labour markets
Press
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The government’s Good Work Plan leaves the gig economy behind
18 December 2018 Wired
Alex Wood, who researches the gig economy at the Oxford Internet Institute, says that the report doesn’t clarify much for people already in precarious work.
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Unpacking the gig economy is harder than you think
5 September 2018 Silicon Republic
The gig economy seems simple, but there are a lot more layers than you might realise.
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Gig jobs pushing staff to ‘sleep deprivation and exhaustion’
11 August 2018 The Telegraph
Tens of millions of workers around the world endure cripplingly long hours in “gig” jobs, suffering exhaustion, sleep deprivation and social isolation in exchange for low wages.
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Taylor Review: The government must stop delaying protection for gig economy workers
9 February 2018 The New Statesman
Despite having held this major review, the government’s response has mainly consisted of highlighting the need for further consultation on proposals to improve work in the on-demand economy.
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How to resist the exploitation of digital gig workers
14 April 2017 Red Pepper
For the first time in history, we have a mass migration of labour without an actual migration of workers. Mark Graham and Alex Wood explore the consequences
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Pay crash expected in online gig economy as millions seek work
24 March 2017 New Scientist
A huge number of people in South-East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa looking for online “gig economy” work could cause a race to the bottom on pay and conditions, according to a new report from the Oxford Internet Institute.
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Dr Alex J. Wood: Uber workers lack autonomy and control
30 October 2016 BBC News
Alex Wood comments for BBC News on the global implications of the 28th October 2016 Employment Tribunal ruling that UK Uber drivers must be classified as workers.
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Coopératives, forces et limites
5 October 2016 internetactu.net
Discussing work by Mark Graham and Alex Wood on the transformation of work in the digital age (in French).
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Technology, power and culture — what’s driving the digital transformation of work?
31 March 2016 Union Solidarity International
Alex Wood discusses zero hour contracts and the impact of changing technologies on working lives.
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What Dave, Vince and Ed don’t tell you about zero-hours contracts
14 April 2015 OpenDemocracy UK
Alex Wood co-authors an article about the implications of zero-hours contracts and why policies are needed to tackle wider problems of employer control and working-time insecutiry.
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Beyond zero-hours: reducing the misery of insecure hours – See more at: https://sm.britsafe.org/beyond-zero-hours-reducing-misery-insecure-hours#sthash.zGjDbtag.dpuf
1 September 2014 British Safety Council
Alex Wood co-authors an article about the insecurities of zero-hours contracts and the misery they can cause
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Supermarket shifts ’cause anxiety and insecurity’
19 April 2014 The Guardian
The work of Alex Wood and Brendan Burchell highlighting the problems created for workers on zero-hours contracts is highlighted in an article in The Guardian