Digitalization is fundamentally changing work and forms of work and paving the way for a new future of employment. In this context, digital platform work has become increasingly important in recent years: more and more people are working as platform workers. Nowadays, digital platforms exist for almost every service, through which both location-based (local, gigwork) and location-independent jobs (usually in the home office, crowdwork) are arranged and provided between providers and clients - from delivery services to cleaning or care services to small text jobs. Although employment relationships with platforms are increasingly common, this form of work is predominantly carried out by solo self-employed people, often on a part-time basis. As a result, traditional occupational health and safety regulations often do not apply. At the same time, platform work is characterized by specific burdens: precarious employment relationships, high time pressure, sporadic work and the control of work by algorithmic systems.
This is where the research project "GIGG - Designing gig and crowdwork to promote health" comes in, which was launched at the beginning of May 2026. Funded by the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA), the project will investigate the working conditions in platform work and their effects on the health of employees over the next three years. Prof. Dr. Tanja Carstensen (TU Chemnitz), Prof. Dr. Regina Kempen and Prof. Dr. Kerstin Rieder (University of Applied Sciences Aalen) will provide scientific support for the study.
The project will analyze four industries as examples, using a mixed-methods design with different qualitative and quantitative methods. It also pursues an inter- and transdisciplinary, participatory research approach: the target group will be actively involved in planning, data collection and evaluation. In order to adequately capture the special features of digital platform work, a new instrument is being developed that will be available to researchers and practitioners once the project is completed. Based on the results, recommendations will be developed to improve the working conditions of platform workers.
