Moving on, out or up: The externalization of work to B2B platforms

Although research on labor platforms is quite extensive, there is less attention on how companies use platforms in their outsourcing strategies. This chapter addresses this deficit by examining how companies externalize work to platforms, what types of value chains emerge as a result, and what effect this has on the organization of work, work content, and skill use. It begins with a look at which industries, sectors, occupations and skill sets have been targeted for externalization to platforms. The evidence shows that outsourcing to platforms comprises a diverse range of industries and a broad array of tasks, impacting on the configuration of company networks, divisions of labor and value chains. The way companies re-integrate work outsourced to platforms back into their companies´ processes varies, but, at least for now, most of the externalized tasks appear to be separated from core company processes.