Digital work platforms represent a rapidly growing new economic model that provides employment for millions of workers in the global South. Little is understood about this important emergent form of employment but evidence so far points to inherent precarity and inequality, falling far short of International Labour Organisation’s decent work standards. The platform economy has widened access to work for millions around the world, but at the same time has opened up abuse of workers and erosion of rights through the legal terminology of ‘worker’ – a situation that disproportionately affects women and migrants. Unless action is taken, this insecure, “indecent” work will become the new norm for growing numbers of workers (and especially vulnerable workers) in the South. This project thus aims to understand the contextual, contractual and practical nature of platform work; to identify its shortfall from decent work standards; to contribute to the development of governance and regulation; and to propose and enact new standards of specific relevance to platform work in developing countries.
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 Feeding the Machine: The Hidden Human Labour Powering AI
University of Western Cape
Project role: Co-Investigator
Faculty of Law, University of Oxford
Project role: Co-Investigator
University of Manchester
Project role: Co-Investigator
University of Cape Town
Project role: Co-Investigator
Senior Lecturer, University of Essex
Project role: Researcher
Jamie has held positions at Goldsmiths, University of Leeds, University of Manchester, Queen Mary, NYU London, Cass Business School, the LSE, the University of Oxford, and the Open University.
With Dr Funda Ustek Spilda, and Srujana Katta
In this webinar, Funda Ustek-Spilda and Srujana Katta will talk about the Fairwork Project, an action-research project at the Oxford Internet Institute.
15 June 2021
Millions of people across the world now work remotely for freelance and microwork platforms, often in low-income countries, that offer outsourcing services to international clients and help power AI systems.
30 March 2021
17 March 2021
19 February 2021
Politico, 21 July 2021
The coronavirus pandemic may have caused the worst jobs crisis since the Great Depression. And yet, for the gig workers that so many businesses and consumers have come to rely on.
Dissent magazine, 04 June 2021
If you’re nervous about going back to work, you’re not the only one. Labour advocates discuss what the lifting of pandemic-related restrictions might mean for workplace safety and labour rights.
Irish Tech News, 31 May 2021
The UK’s most popular digital labour platforms have been rated by Oxford researchers through fair principles on the treatment of their workers.
Forbes, 31 May 2021
Bolt is throwing its hat in the ring in the increasingly crowded field for dark stores for food and grocery deliveries.
This project will examine how the growth of gig work in the United States can contribute to growing inequalities, and develop a framework for understanding best practice for fairer work standards.
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.
