“gig” Economy.pdf

The rise of platform labour, led by online platforms like Uber and TaskRabbit, is transforming the future of work, providing opportunities for new sections of the workforce and greater choice for consumers at lower costs. However, research suggests that this explosion in platform labour poses real risks to employment standards, particularly among the young, with crowd workers competing for work at diminishing rates of pay without benefits. Policymakers must identify bold measures to protect the rights of this expanding workforce, including ensuring access to basic rights, relaxing regulations to allow collective bargaining, adapting welfare and benefits systems, and defining the legal status of companies that crowdsource labour. The 'sharing economy' brings new social and economic opportunities, but also raises concerns about the erosion of labour standards and employment rights, with key risks including widespread evasion of regulations, growing precariousness, health and safety risks, and threats to European employers. New legal and political frameworks are needed to accommodate these changes, and policymakers face difficult decisions over how to regulate the 'sharing economy' while encouraging opportunities.