Abstract:

The global financial crisis of 2008 has bolstered the consolidation of a new form of work, that is, the gig works. These works are grounded on the following characteristics: flexibility, sporadic or commissioned work and technology. The most immediate consequence of the appearance of this form of work is that labour relations are tensioned, by suppressing a key element in the human resource management (HRM), the labour relationship between the employer company and the worker, creating significant legal challenges in all countries around the world.

In gig work contexts, traditionally, HRM strategies are introduced to control gig worker that should be autonomous, through the introduction of algorithmic HRM. However, the focus needs to be on the comprehension of how traditional employees' competences, experiences, collaborative and relational practices, and sensory and emotional engagement are affected by the gig employments. More studies are needed on HRM practices (training, compensation, performance assessment or job design) within organisational HR systems to comprehend who these activities benefit, who experiences these practices, and how organisations facilitate them.

The purpose of this study is to better understand HRM practices in gig companies. Interviews will be conducted in several gig companies (i.e., Glovo, Uber, Freelancers, etc.) with workers and management. This study targets to comprehend the differences between non-knowledge companies (e.g., traditional food delivery or ride companies) and knowledge companies in the gig economy context. Furthermore, this study will be complemented with the study of emotional experiences through a content analysis following the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) categories. The LIWC program reads a given text and counts the percentage of words that reflect different emotions, thinking styles, social concerns, and even parts of speech.

We expect that this study will contribute to enrich what we know about the implementation of HRM practices within gig work contexts, as well as the emotions of gig workers and management. It will also look for the differences between knowledge and non-knowledge-based gig companies in terms of HRM practices.

Please choose your submission type: Developmental Paper

Primary Track: Human Resource Management

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Dr. Mirta Diaz-Fernandez

Biography