2021-09-22, Ryser, Thomas, Konrad, Jonas, Flepp, Corsin

Research Question Gig Work is a new flexible form of work with automated placement of mini jobs on online platforms. Little is known today about the gig workers and their motives for the new form of work. We investigated motives, life situations and needs of gig workers from the largest platform in Switzerland. Research design The explorative study followed a sequential mixed method design with qualitative interviews (professional biographical interviews (n=18), validation workshops (n=20)) and a subsequent online survey (n=1268). The results of a qualitative content analysis and a cluster analysis were combined to develop the typology. Results Six types were found: Explorers, Professionals, Balancers, Jobbers, Integraters and Diversifiers. They show that there are different needs in terms of flexibility, reconciliation of different work and life domains, and networking. The types differ in relevance and time perspective to work as a gig worker (transition phases vs. mid- to long term perspective). Limitations Limitations arise due to the case study of a single platform, the specific labour law status of gig workers and the economic context in Switzerland. Furthermore, selection effects in recruitment must be considered. Theoretical/practical implications The typology allows a differentiated understanding of gig workers motives and needs. In practice, it supports a further development of the platform model and target group-specific communication. Relevance We describe one of the first gig worker typologies in the platform economy, the first in the Swiss context.

2019-03-26, Ryser, Thomas, Flepp, Corsin, Konrad, Jonas

2020-04-21, Rutz, Milena, Flepp, Corsin

«Digital Working Experience durch Mixed Reality – eine Arbeit, die sich nicht nach Arbeit anfühlt?» Ein psychologischer Blick auf die Trends der Arbeit mit Fokus auf die Digitalisierung und einen Ausblick auf die Teamarbeit von morgen durch die Mixed Reality-Brille: • Was sind Trends in Arbeit und Digitalisierung? • Was macht Zusammenarbeit aus psychologischer Perspektive aus? • Welche Fragen sollten wir uns stellen, wenn es um die Experience in der Zusammenarbeit geht? • Welche Potenziale für die Teamarbeit finden sich in der Digitalisierung? • Welchen Beitrag können neue Technologien wie Mixed Reality zur Digital Working Experience leisten?

2019-08, Ryser, Thomas, Flepp, Corsin, Konrad, Jonas

The gig economy is receiving more and more public attention. The current debate revolves around the inherent ambiguity of the legal status of so-called gig workers. Gig work can be conceptualized internally as a kind of hybrid work form containing rationales of control related to employment as well as the degrees of freedom and flexibility normally attributed to self-employment. Working in the economy is connected to a high degree of ambiguity regarding job security and financial stability, planning and coordination of workloads, as well as broader issues regarding life course planning and career path development. The internal ambiguity of gig work as a newly emerging work form has several implications for the construction of worker identities. Gig workers are required to evaluate the role of the emerging new work form regarding identity development in their actual life span and their career development. It is proposed, that the respective individual relevance of gig work for professional development as well as the integration in to private and work-related identities generates needs for identity adaptation. Therefore, the construction of new combinations of work related, but in a more general term also life course related identity patterns is expected. To get an exploratory insight into emerging identity patterns, the construction of gig worker identities was analyzed in a qualitativeexplorative study by interviewing 18 platform workers of the biggest gig work company in Switzerland. In the interviews narratives of gig worker biographies were evoked and social identity maps visualized. In two subsequent workshops with ten gig workers from the same company the identified patterns were communicatively validated. The results of the qualitative-explorative inquiry lead to the development of a typology of gig worker identity patterns. Identity patterns can be differentiated on the dimensions of integration of gig work in the actual life course, the relevance of gig work and other life and work domains, as well as the complexity of social identity patterns. Furthermore, the identified patterns are related to different styles of identity integration. More specifically, workers perceiving gig work as a transition in their vocational development can be distinguished from workers, who have developed a mid-term perspective in doing gig work. The development of a more stable perspective is related to hybrid combinations of central identity domains (work or private), compared to more complex patterns in transient forms of gig work episodes. The method of visualizing identity maps can be evaluated as useful for the identification of emerging identity patterns in hybrid work arrangements. So far, the study is limited to the workers of the gig work platform under study, but the applied method of identity mapping seems conducive to the investigation of emerging, identity patterns in other work contexts. A further validation of the developed identity patterns could be used to inform the current debate on the legal status of gig workers.