Older Workers’ Labor and the Gig-Economy: Precarization or New Opportunities?

Abstract

The gig-economy is a flexible form of labor characterized by project employment on digital platforms. The purpose of the article is to analyze the essence of the gig-economy in order to assess its impact on the work of the older generation. The analytical review was made taking into account the following tasks: 1) analysis of relevant literature, 2) secondary analysis of quantitative, qualitative and statistical data, 3) assessing the impact of the gig-economy on the employment of pensioners in terms of precarization. An analysis of the literature shows that the “flexibilization” of the labor market is described in ambiguous terms: a number of authors describe the positive aspects (no set schedule, growth of individuality, eradication of bureaucratic restrictions), while others focus on the negative consequences (instability of income, lack of social guarantees, overexploitation, etc.). The author highlights a number of negative risks for the elderly gig-employed (forced self-employment, vulnerability to fraud, lack of social guarantees from the employer, etc.), but comes to the conclusion that the gig economy has a fairly positive impact on the employment of the elderly: 1) social security (basic pension income and social state protection), 2) integration into a new labor reality and opportunities to improve well-being, 3) resocialization, etc. A separate advantage of selfemployment is a fiscal innovation that is beneficial for the elderly which allows pensioners to obtain the status of self-employed without sacrificing pension indexation. The scientific novelty of the study lies in analyzing the employment of the older generation through the lens of the gig-economy and precarization.

Keywords

• pensioners
• gig-economy
• precarization
• platform employment
• active longevity
• older generation
• aging
• labor market
• work of pensioners