Towards a Fairer Gig Economy: Insights from Around the World

Gig work as a new ‘employment’ or ‘independent contracting’ work mode has numerous advantages and disadvantages and, therefore, scholars justifiably question the extent to which it qualifies as decent work, how fairness and justice are practised within its ecosystem, and how its precarity can be mitigated. The preceding chapters underscore the complex and multifaceted nature of gig work in various contexts, acknowledging its positive and transformative potential while highlighting the need to do more to humanise this new context of business. They also incorporate global perspectives into specific regional challenges and diverse worker experiences. Common themes include the need for regulatory reforms and the protection of worker rights and for the promotion of fair working conditions. Challenges such as social isolation, low remuneration, job insecurity, doubtful safety, non-human resource management, and gender inequality appear across different contexts. Overall, the contributors call for humanistic management in the form of fairer practices, humane solutions, and inclusive policies to accompany the evolving nature of gig work and make it sustainable. This final chapter separates the discourse into four buckets: decent work, shared value, governance, and sustainability.