Job Crafting Can Help Digital Gig Workers Build Resilience

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Online gig work has grown in recent years, but there is still limited understanding of how to support these non-traditional workers. Gig workers face unique challenges, such as less job security, fewer resources for career development, and a strong sense of alienation, because of their lack of traditional employees. Job crafting at both the personal and group levels can help workers cultivate resilience in the face of these challenges according to a study conducted with more than 300 digital gig workers. The authors recommend that gig workers work to craft their jobs individually, but that they also engage with communities that can help them develop skills, identify new opportunities, and feel more connected. They suggest that crowd work platforms take steps to foster a sense of community among their workers in order to support their job crafting efforts and ensure a more resilient workforce.

The global gig economy, which is short-term, project-based work, including both online white collar work on platforms such as 99designs and offline service work on platforms such as Uber, is expected to be a $455 billion industry by the year 2023. In the EU, 11 percent of workers have participated in the gig economy, while as many as 1 in 3 working Americans rely on freelancer for all or part of their income.