The World Bank published its report titled “Working Without Borders: The Promise and Risk of Online Working”.
The report stated that the share of online “gig” workers in the global workforce varies between 4.4 and 12.5 percent, which is much higher than previously estimated.
The report points out that although developed countries dominate the demand for “gig” workers, the demand in developing countries is increasing much faster, and that these jobs offer a “special promise” for women and youth in developing countries.
The report emphasized that the demand for online “gig” jobs is increasing rapidly, but social protections for employees in this segment are still lacking.
Job postings on the largest digital platform in Sub-Saharan Africa increased by 130 percent, while the growth rate in North America was only 14 percent. reported an increase in resource use.
The report stated that the “gig economy” is huge, with 545 online “gig” work platforms worldwide, with employees and customers from 186 countries.
In the report, which emphasized the importance of this sector for developing countries, it was stated that low and middle-income countries accounted for 40 percent of the total traffic on “gig” platforms.
The report states that young people are attracted to “gig” jobs because they have the flexibility to generate income, learn new skills, or run the job alongside school and other jobs, with women also participating more in the online “gig economy” than they are in the general labor market, and out of every 10 employees. 6 were noted to live in smaller cities rather than the largest populated cities.
The report also warned against the potential risks of the “gig economy” and stated that most people in low-income countries work outside the scope of labor legislation and lack access to social insurance and benefits.
