From the existing work of the Fairwork project as well as broader platform economy scholarship, it is increasingly evident that gig workers around the world experience negative outcomes from new digitally-mediated work relationships, including low pay, damaging conditions, disputes over employment contracts, poor communication and management, and a lack of either individual or collective voice in their work. Much platform work falls outside of traditional employment protections, regulations, or existing collective agreements. This leaves workers engaged in platform work at substantial risk. The Fairwork project aims to ameliorate working conditions by closely engaging with and supporting platforms to improve their policies.
There are now many tens of millions of platform workers around the world. According to a pan-African survey run by Insight2Impact, 1.3% of adult Africans earn income from platforms. Using this level of reach as a guide, the size of the gig economy in Ghana can be estimated to be between 38 thousand to 258 thousand active workers. By engaging with local stakeholders, gig workers and platform managers to produce platform rankings and communicate standards of best practice, this project will aim to improve labour conditions and generate policy for this increasingly significant workforce.
Professor of Internet Geography
Project role: Principal Investigator
Mark Graham is an economic geographer. His research focuses on digital labour, the gig economy, and digital inequalities. He is the author, most recently, of The Gig Economy: A Critical Introduction.
Postdoctoral Researcher
Project role: Co-Investigator
Dr Funda Ustek-Spilda a postdoctoral researcher and project manager on the Fairwork project at the Oxford Internet Institute.
DPhil Student
Project role: Co-Investigator
Srujana is a doctoral student at the OII and a member of the Fairwork Project. Her research focusses on digital labour, migration, and resistance.
Drawing on the five OECD principles for responsible stewardship of trustworthy AI, this project proposes developing a set of accountability mechanisms to ensure AI systems foster fairer working conditions.
The Fairwork Foundation will certify online labour platforms, using leverage from workers, consumers, and platforms to improve the welfare and job quality of digital workers.
This project aims to understand the contextual, contractual and practical nature of platform work, to identify its shortfall from decent work standards and to contribute to the development of its governance and regulation.
