Research Handbook of Careers in the Gig Economy

Hardback

Research Handbook of Careers in the Gig Economy

9781035318520 Edward Elgar Publishing
Edited by Jos Akkermans, Full Professor of Sustainable Careers, Department of Management & Organization, School of Business and Economics, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Anne Keegan, Full Professor of Human Resource Management, HRM and Employment Relations Group, College of Business, University College Dublin, Ireland and François Pichault, Full Professor, HEC Liège - Management School, Liège University and Director of LENTIC (Laboratory for the Study of New Forms of Work, Innovation and Change), Belgium
Publication Date: March 2025 ISBN: 978 1 03531 852 0 Extent: c 252 pp
This Research Handbook explores how gig workers’ careers fit into the evolving employment landscape. It provides essential insights into how individuals can navigate the gig economy successfully and sustainably.

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This Research Handbook explores how gig workers’ careers fit into the evolving employment landscape. It provides essential insights into how individuals can navigate the gig economy successfully and sustainably.

Bringing together a diverse, global collective of contributors, the editors showcase how careers can unfold in the gig economy. They investigate a wide variety of occupations from cleaners to performing artists and from courier work to short-term contracts in the IT and design sectors, demonstrating the complexity of gig employment. Authors assess the dynamics of flexibility, unpredictability, meaningfulness and sustainability to present a detailed picture of the advantages and challenges of gig work in a fast-paced and complicated modern world.

Scholars and students focusing on work or industrial and organizational psychology, human resource management, the sociology of work, decent work, and economic growth will find this Research Handbook a useful reference tool. Consultants and policy makers focusing on regulatory frameworks will additionally benefit from its real-world insights.
Critical Acclaim
‘New developments require new ways of thinking. That’s exactly what this timely book does. Looking at careers in the gig economy from a broad variety of perspectives, the authors build on insight from career studies and further develop our understanding. A highly rewarding read for students, academics, and practitioners!’
– Wolfgang Mayrhofer, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria

‘This book offers a compelling investigation of the evolving ecosystem of work, the worker, and the workplace. An international group of esteemed scholars provide insights that are rich in theory and empirical evidence, and this sets the stage for further scholarship and best practice. The authors illustrate how the “gig economy” signals a paradigm shift and reconceptualization of traditional views of careers. In the contemporary setting, our premises about careers – their choice, development, progression, duration, and belonging – are fundamentally challenged. These challenges sit within the broader context of economic, technological, social and legal implications. Definitely a worthwhile resource for career research and practice.’
– Scott A. Snell, UVA Darden, USA

‘The gig economy epitomises the nature of contemporary careers, offering a non-traditional option for individuals and organisations exploring new avenues for careers. This Research Handbook provides a much needed resource that will be of great help for careers scholars.’
– Yehuda Baruch, University of Southampton, UK
Contents
Contents
1 Introduction: towards an inclusive perspective on careers in the gig
economy 1
Jos Akkermans, Anne Keegan and François Pichault
2 Exploring precariousness in the gig economy using a multiple-level
perspective 15
Annabelle Hofer and Daniel Spurk
3 Decent work and meaningful work: insights from gig work 36
Evgenia I. Lysova and Yiluyi Zeng
4 Career sustainability in the gig economy: a delicate balancing act 51
Sofie Jacobs, Jos Akkermans, Beatrice Van der Heijden and Ans De Vos
5 Developing professionally while working independently: career
development of professionals working in the gig economy 67
Erin Reid, Susan Ashford, Brianna Caza and Steve Granger
6 Identifying career trajectories in the gig economy: from professional career
path to anti-career 85
Dominique Kost and Christian Fieseler
7 Disruptive events in disruptive work: how career shocks impact gig
workers 96
Maria Tamontseva, Karen Pak and Jérôme Sulbout
8 The meaning and practice of benefits for gig workers 112
Kristine M. Kuhn
9 A configurational approach to career success in the gig economy 125
David Cross, Huainan Wang, Qingyang Xu and Mina Beigi
10 Working hard to make it work: career-based opportunities and risks in app
work 138
James Duggan, Anthony McDonnell, Ultan Sherman and Ronan Carbery
11 Careers and the gig economy: analyzing the broader effects of gig work on
career patterns, dynamics and outcomes 149
Jeroen Meijerink and Anne Keegan
12 Freelancing, Platform Work and Precarious Careers 165
Pulignano Valeria, Karol Muszyński and Maite Tapia
13 Union membership: a career self-management strategy to cope with the
career difficulties associated with working in the gig economy 178
Pauline de Becdelièvre
14 When matchmaking is not enough: the new role of labour market
intermediaries in supporting gig worker careers 187
José L. Gallegos, Bas A.S. Koene and François Pichault
15 Careers in the gig economy: the institutional context 202
Tui McKeown, Patricia Leighton and François Pichault
16 Careers and gig work in Sub-Saharan Africa 215
Desmond Tutu Ayentimi and John Burgess
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