Abstract
The rapid expansion of platform-mediated work challenges established theories of professional identity, which assume stable organisational membership and institutional validation. Drawing on identity work, social identity, and career construction theories, this paper develops a multi level conceptual framework explaining how gig workers construct professional identities under algorithmic governance and institutional scarcity. We propose identity bricolage as a central mechanism through which workers assemble coherent selves from fragmented reputational signals, platform validation, and narrative reflexivity. The model identifies contextual antecedents, identity construction processes, and divergent identity outcomes, advancing a process-based account of professional identity formation in precarious, digitally mediated labour markets.