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Distancing Bonus or Downscaling Loss? The Changing Livelihood of US Online Workers in Times of COVID-19

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  • Stephany, Fabian
  • Dunn, Michael
  • Sawyer, Steven
  • Lehdonvirta, Vili

Abstract

We draw on data from the Online Labour Index and interviews with freelancers in the United States securing work on online platforms, to illuminate effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic’s global economic upheaval is shuttering shops and offices. Those able to do so are now working remotely from their homes. They join workers who have always been working remotely: freelancers who earn some or all of their income from projects secured via online labour platforms. Data allow us to sketch a first picture of how the initial month of the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the livelihoods of online freelancers. The data shows online labour demand falling rapidly in early March 2020, but with an equally rapid recovery. We also find significant differences between countries and occupations. Data from interviews make clear jobs are increasingly scarce even as more people are creating profiles and seeking freelance work online.

Suggested Citation

  • Stephany, Fabian & Dunn, Michael & Sawyer, Steven & Lehdonvirta, Vili, 2020. "Distancing Bonus or Downscaling Loss? The Changing Livelihood of US Online Workers in Times of COVID-19," SocArXiv vmg34, Center for Open Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:osf:socarx:vmg34
    DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/vmg34
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Kässi, Otto & Lehdonvirta, Vili & Stephany, Fabian, 2021. "How Many Online Workers are there in the World? A Data-Driven Assessment," SocArXiv 78nge, Center for Open Science.
    2. Lavopa, Alejandro & Donnelly, Carolina, 2023. "Socioeconomic resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic. The role of industrial capabilities," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 44-57.
    3. Lars Hornuf & Daniel Vrankar, 2022. "Hourly Wages in Crowdworking: A Meta-Analysis," Business & Information Systems Engineering: The International Journal of WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK, Springer;Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (GI), vol. 64(5), pages 553-573, October.
    4. Sugata Marjit & Gouranga Gopal Das, 2022. "Immunity-Driven Comparative Advantage and Its Palliative Effect on Social Health and Inequality - A Theoretical Perspective," CESifo Working Paper Series 9569, CESifo.
    5. Sam Jones & Ivan Manhique, 2021. "Informal freelancers in the time of COVID-19: Insights from a digital matching platform in Mozambique," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2021-95, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    6. Martindale, Nicholas & Lehdonvirta, Vili, 2021. "Can labour market digitalization increase social mobility? Evidence from a European survey of online platform workers," SocArXiv 54aqh, Center for Open Science.
    7. Tan, Zhi Ming & Aggarwal, Nikita & Cowls, Josh & Morley, Jessica & Taddeo, Mariarosaria & Floridi, Luciano, 2021. "The ethical debate about the gig economy: A review and critical analysis," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    8. Christopher T. Stanton & Catherine Thomas, 2020. "The Gig Economy Beyond Local Services and Transportation," CESifo Forum, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 21(03), pages 21-26, September.
    9. Pouliakas, Konstantinos & Branka, Jiri, 2020. "EU Jobs at Highest Risk of COVID-19 Social Distancing: Will the Pandemic Exacerbate Labour Market Divide?," IZA Discussion Papers 13281, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Stephany, Fabian & Teutloff, Ole, 2024. "What is the price of a skill? The value of complementarity," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(1).
    11. Stephany, Fabian, 2021. "When Does it Pay Off to Learn a New Skill? Revealing the Complementary Benefit of Cross-Skilling," SocArXiv sv9de, Center for Open Science.
    12. Chiara Belletti & Daniel Erdsiek & Ulrich Laitenberger & Paola Tubaro, 2021. "Crowdworking in France and Germany," Working Papers hal-03468022, HAL.
    13. Fabian Stephany & Otto Kassi & Uma Rani & Vili Lehdonvirta, 2021. "Online Labour Index 2020: New ways to measure the world's remote freelancing market," Papers 2105.09148, arXiv.org, revised Jun 2021.
    14. Fabian Stephany, 2020. "When Does it Pay Off to Learn a New Skill? Revealing the Complementary Benefit of Cross-Skilling," Papers 2010.11841, arXiv.org, revised Feb 2021.
    15. Ivona Huđek & Polona Tominc & Karin Širec, 2021. "The Impact of Social and Cultural Norms, Government Programs and Digitalization as Entrepreneurial Environment Factors on Job and Career Satisfaction of Freelancers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-20, January.
    16. Olivier Boiral & Marie-Christine Brotherton & Léo Rivaud & Laurence Guillaumie, 2021. "Organizations’ Management of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Scoping Review of Business Articles," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-20, April.
    17. Mueller-Langer, Frank & Gómez-Herrera, Estrella, 2022. "Mobility restrictions and the substitution between on-site and remote work: Empirical evidence from a European online labour market," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    18. Malo, Miguel, 2020. "Una reflexión sobre las primeras respuestas de política al impacto del Covid-19 sobre el empleo [A reflection on the first mitigating policies of the impact of Covid-19 on employment]," MPRA Paper 104390, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Braesemann, Fabian & Stephany, Fabian, 2020. "Measuring Digital Development with Online Data: Digital Economies in Eastern Europe and Central Asia," SocArXiv f9jqh, Center for Open Science.
    20. Paola Tubaro & Antonio A Casilli, 2022. "Who bears the burden of a pandemic? COVID-19 and the transfer of risk to digital platform workers," Post-Print hal-03369291, HAL.
    21. Uma Rani & Rishabh Kumar Dhir, 2020. "Platform Work and the COVID-19 Pandemic," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 63(1), pages 163-171, October.
    22. Daniel Erdsiek, 2021. "Unternehmen setzen verstärkt auf Crowdworking [Companies increasingly rely on crowdworking]," Wirtschaftsdienst, Springer;ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 101(11), pages 912-914, November.

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