Human Resource Management and Online Gig Work in Sub-Saharan Africa

Even though the scale of the gig economy in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is small, there is extensive discussion on its potential impact on the future of work. While attention on the gig economy in advanced economies is on its potential to erode formal employment standards, in emerging economies, especially for online working, there is the potential to access global labour markets, improved working conditions, and the application of formal human resource management (HRM) processes in an informal economy setting. With growing internet connectivity and mobile phone apps, the infrastructure that supports online working is improving, and as such online working with links to global platforms is increasing. Through global online working platforms, strategic HRM processes can leverage to manage and support platform workers across SSA. This chapter will examine the potential for strategic HRM processes to manage and support online workers throughout the SSA region and to be extended to other enterprises.