The gig economy, platform work, and social policy

Food delivery workers' occupational welfare dilemma in Hong Kong

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2116502
AutoresTat Chor Au‐yeung (0000-0002-2741-855X, autor correspondente), Chris King-Chi Chan (0000-0002-7739-2116, Royal Holloway University of London), Cham Kit Keith Ming, Wing Yin Anna Tsui (University of Hong Kong)
Ano2025
Volume54
Fascículo2
Páginas673-691
Data de publicação2025-04-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoJournal of Social Policy (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0047-2794 • E-ISSN: 1469-7823
EditoraCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0047279423000673
OpenAlexW4390585711
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas13
Referências citadas49

Previous literature suggests that the gig economy and platform work pose challenges to social policy, including the welfare entitlement issues caused by workers' ambiguous occupational status. Focusing on the government's regulatory role, this study investigates platform workers' occupational welfare (OW) by conducting in-depth interviews with forty-six food delivery workers in Hong Kong. The evidence reveals workers' occupational risks resulting from platforms' algorithmic devices and the misclassification of independent contractors. The denied access to private occupational pensions was considered acceptable by workers because of the perceived irrelevance of OW. While interviewees emphasised time-based flexibility as a key intangible benefit, the shifting business costs to self-employed workers was highlighted as a disadvantage. A policy dilemma appears between strengthening state regulation/protection and maintaining workers' temporal autonomy. Arguably, the platformisation of work is translated into the gigification of OW, disentitling platform workers' employer-provided welfare and labour protection. Platforms possess monopolising power over workers, the state displays weak regulatory power to monitor platforms, and workers' occupational citizenship is undermined by the government's minimal intervention. This study contributes to the literature by linking OW to platform work and revealing how the gig economy reshapes social policy, empirically offering a worker-centred analysis of OW in Hong Kong

Autonomy · Business · Dilemma · Economics · Entitlement (fair division) · Flexibility (engineering) · Government (linguistics) · Labour economics · Management · Market economy · Political science · Social Welfare · Welfare · Welfare state · Work (physics) · Digital Economy and Work Transformation · Employment and Welfare Studies · Engineering · Law · Sharing Economy and Platforms