Careers and the gig economy: analyzing the broader effects of gig work on career patterns, dynamics and outcomes

While existing scholarship predominantly studies the careers of gig workers who find and perform work via online labour platforms, the aim of this chapter is to extend the focus beyond gig workers to a range of different online labour platforms (OLP) and related gig economy stakeholders. Besides well-known for-profit OLP platforms like Uber, Deliveroo, and Fiverr, we detail the career implications of platform cooperatives, spin-off platforms, and contingent internal labour platforms. Moreover, we cast light on the careers of staff employees who are employed by an OLP and are responsible for developing and maintaining the sociotechnical system through which platform-based gig workers are managed. In so doing, we show how the literature on careers in the gig economy can benefit from taking a broader perspective (beyond gig workers' careers) and suggest avenues for future research.