Stratified pathways into platform work: Migration trajectories and skills in Berlin’s gig economy

Orth, Barbara

doi:10.1177/0308518x231191933

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 70 publications

(88 reference statements)

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“…While in our sample this group might be overrepresented, an analysis of profiles on the application as well as existing literature about the situation in Berlin and other cities supports its relevance also on a broader level (comp. Floros and Jørgensen 2023;Orth 2023). Research also shows that the migration regimes regarding young migrants coming to Berlin interact with platform work, as platforms offer an easy and unbureaucratic way to start working right away after moving to the city (Animento 2023;Orth 2023).…”

Section: Methodological Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Floros and Jørgensen 2023;Orth 2023). Research also shows that the migration regimes regarding young migrants coming to Berlin interact with platform work, as platforms offer an easy and unbureaucratic way to start working right away after moving to the city (Animento 2023;Orth 2023). Furthermore, most cleaners in our sample are male, while the company claimed a roughly 50/50 distribution in an interview with us.…”

Section: Methodological Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Organising fragmented labour: the case of migrant workers at Helpling in Berlin

Niebler,

Animento

2023

Econ. labour relat. rev.

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Research on collective organisation of migrant platform workers is mostly concerned with ride-hailing and delivery logistics, where explicit forms of collective action have been visible. This paper addresses the issue of the self-organisation of migrant workers on cleaning platforms through a case study of Helpling cleaners in Berlin. In the paper, we ask why the attempts for organising workers have failed to scale up beyond the informal exchange of information and tactics among the workers. Our article argues that the spatial dispersion of work across the city, lack of occupational identity, and the legal framework of work, make worker organising difficult for cleaners in Berlin. Still, these factors do not lead to an absence of collective practices. Helpling workers in our study gather in online groups, can receive help and exchange in a community centre, and have been in touch with political groups. Based on the case study, the article discusses potentials and hurdles for the development of collective counter-power.

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Section: Methodological Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodological Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organising fragmented labour: the case of migrant workers at Helpling in Berlin

Niebler,

Animento

2023

Econ. labour relat. rev.

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“…In the same sense, also research on migration and platform labour posits that migration is not just a side aspect of the platform economy but central to its functioning, as platform companies rely on ever‐new workers to come in and take on seemingly unskilled, platform‐mediated jobs (Orth, 2024; Van Doorn et al., 2023). As Yin's study in Canada (2024) suggests platform care work should be situated in the continuous formal subsumption of reproductive labour and the class immobility of migrant domestic workers.…”

Section: Digital Platforms and Informal Domestic And Care Labourmentioning

confidence: 99%

A taxonomy of business models of digital care platforms in Spain

Rodríguez‐Modroño

2024

Sociology Compass

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In the last few years, the proliferation of digital labour platforms has led to the transformation of business models and labour relations in an increasing number of economic activities, including highly feminized and informal traditional sectors, such as care and domestic work. Drawing on an analysis of 37 digital care platforms in Spain, this research compares the distinctive features and structural power dynamics they engender, and it constructs a taxonomy of business models of these care platforms. By analysing the main features of their operational models, we are capable of distinguishing three main types of platforms: marketplace, on‐demand, and digital placement agencies. First, the paper argues that the distinctive features of each digital platform business model have differentiated impacts on working conditions in terms of access to tasks, remuneration, flexibility and means of control. This differentiation allows us to understand what is transformative and what is continuous in platforms' precarization or formalisation of care work and working conditions of carers, mainly women and migrants. Each business model has its differentiated outcomes in terms of labour control and reorganization of women's and migrants' reproductive work. Second, more broadly, while digital care platforms may have contributed to facilitating workers' access to jobs, reducing transaction costs and standardising processes, this has often been through the creation of more flexible and insecure forms of work and to increased market pressures. Therefore, this study contributes to existing research addressing the degree of formalization of labour relations in digital platform work through a nuanced analysis of their business models.

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