What if We All Worked Gigs in the Cloud? The Economic Relevance of Digital Labour Platforms

This paper explores the increasing diffusion of digital labour platforms, i.e. online software which facilitates the interaction between buyers and sellers of paid labour services through matching algorithms and structured information exchange. Although the phenomenon itself has only recently started to develop, its prevalence is rapidly increasing. We illustrate the various forms digital labour platforms can take, frame the issues they raise in the broader debate on digitalisation and succinctly describe the various angles from which the Commission services have so far approached digital labour platforms in analytical and policy work. The paper also explores the impact the rapid growth of the considered platforms could potentially have on the wider economy and raises three sets of relevant economic policy questions, focusing on: • the contribution of digital labour platforms to overall labour market functioning (including wages) and productivity; • the possible impact of digital labour platforms on macro-economic aggregates such as GDP and total employment at EU and Member State level; • the impact of the growing participation in the labour markets intermediated by online platforms on public finances.