Page 459 - Invited Paper Session (IPS) - Volume 2

IPS320 Monica D. C. et al.
IPW is carried out in a triangular relationship in which a worker agrees to
complete a work output or task via the digital platform in exchange for
payment. The task request originates with a so-called “requester” or client that
uses the platform to engage a worker (or workers) to complete the work. The
nature of tasks or work output differs widely as do the skills required to
perform them, and digital labour platforms function as microtask, macrotask
or software development platforms. The payment structure for workers is
based on successful completion of the task or work output and not on the
time worked. Algorithmic management, which controls many aspects of the
work performed, is a defining characteristic of IPW and involves work assigned,
5
optimized and evaluated through algorithms and tracked data. Task
requesters or clients often anonymously rate the work of individual workers
via the platform, with important consequences for the worker’s ability to
secure future task work on the platform.
IPW is heterogeneous and includes two main types: web-based work and
location- and app-based work. In web-based work, specific tasks are either
6
outsourced to a crowd (i.e., a large group of global workers who often span
different geographic and time zones) or directly to individual workers using a
freelance marketplace. In location- and app-based work, tasks are primarily
assigned to individual workers, for example in transportation, delivery and
household services with fewer opportunities for the crowd.
Entrepreneurs. Economic and labour market policy analysts use statistics
on status in employment to identify entrepreneurs and to assess the impact
of self-employment and entrepreneurialism on employment and economic
growth. According to the Resolution, entrepreneurs are persons who own
and control an enterprise and seek to generate value through the creation of
economic activity, by identifying and exploiting new products, processes or
markets. In doing so, they create employment for themselves and potentially
for others. Entrepreneurs represent a subcategory of independent workers and
include both own-account workers and employers in both incorporated and
unincorporated enterprises. Additional information relevant to the national
context, such as the size, age and other characteristics of the enterprise, is
needed to provide complete statistics on entrepreneurship and to accurately
identify those workers who are creating employment opportunities for
themselves or for others. Entrepreneurship in this paper refers to the
phenomena associated with entrepreneurial activity.

5 ILO 2018. Digital labour platforms and the future of work: Towards decent work in the
online world, Geneva, p. 9.
6 Ibid, p. 4.
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