TWIG’s microwork reading list
Roundtable participants requested a short microwork reading list. So we reviewed our database of over 500 related signals and related literature. The following 12 resources will help anyone interested in microwork get up to speed quickly.
– Cheryl May, Senior Researcher
Thanks to the efforts of Michelle Buckley, Assistant Professor, and Urban Political Geography students from the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus, the microtasking signals sprint provided 337 references. The references were also carefully categorized and annotated, and range from research articles to Reddit microwork forums.
Following the sprint, the research team identified 12 trends that surfaced in the signals. We reached out to experts in the fields of employment, labour market, workforce trends, and equity to develop the drivers behind the trends and hosted two virtual roundtables. The experts also identified the need for a short reading list.
Together with my fellow researchers, Marco Campana and Alastair Cheng, we collected over 150+ resources in addition to the signals data provided by students. The following 12 resources are drawn from the microwork library of our top 100 resources.
AI’s labour force impacts
Digital automation encompasses various technologies such as machine learning, often considered in the context of AI. In this study, we are using 9% to 46% as estimates for Canadian workforce susceptibility to automation. The statistics come from recent reports by the OECD (9%) and Brookfield Institute (46%).
The literature on this topic varies. Because our focus is foresight, we have set aside the question of how much job loss automation will produce. The related trend depicts the ongoing incorporation of “AI” into both business and other aspects of life. Accordingly, growth in AI drives growth in microwork. Anthropologist Mary L. Gray and computational social scientist Siddharth Suri emphasize this point in Ghost Work, a seminal book that belongs in your microwork reading list. If you like to listen, the Ghost Work podcast episode with Gray also merits attention.
Research-based on automation data flags job transitions out of automated roles, and a diminished share of value-added for labour. Autor and Salomon’s Is automation labor-displacing? conveys results based on OECD data since 1970. Added to this, a recent study by economists James Bessen, Maarten Goos, Anna Salomons, and Wiljan Van den Berge, posits that automation is a slow process, making it difficult to prompt a public response.
The Canadian gig economy
The Bank of Canada study, The Size and Characteristics of Informal (“Gig”) Work in Canada, added additional questions to the consumer expectation survey as a way to gauge participation rates. One-third of respondents report participating in gig work. In the context of precarious work, gig work is most typical among people who are historically affected by unemployment rates. In other words, young people, part-time workers, and specific regions.
Platform outsourcing
The Oxford Internet Institute’s Online Labour Index (OLI) tracks supply and demand flows. It does this by tracking projects and tasks across platforms. Canadian demand and supply stats can be viewed using the primary visualization tool and worker supplement on the linked page. The platforms monitored by the OLI encompass everything from web development to microtasks. So, the researchers view this data as indicative of the dynamics in the broader platform freelancing market. Still, the employers and industries that are currently using these platforms are primarily tech companies.
OLI-related publications provide details about the online freelance labour across countries and occupations. Likewise, the Internet Institute’s members produce other research. As an example, Platform Sourcing: How Fortune 500 Firms Are Adopting Online Freelancing Platforms, provides helpful context.
What counts as microtasking?
Scoping out “microtasking” has been an ongoing challenge. One of the reports that shaped the scope of this work is the ILO’s Digital Labour Platforms and the Future of Work. (p. 16-22). The report draws on a clear picture of crowdsourced work based on a 2017 survey of crowdworkers.
Despite the ILO’s incredible work, getting apples-to-apples data about worker demographics is challenging. The World Bank produced The Global Opportunity in Online Outsourcing, a 2015 global assessment of outsourcing as a driver of growth in developing countries.
Three more for your microwork reading list
Your microwork reading list will also benefit from the following three current recommended resources. They cover the broader context of microtasking as a global phenomenon.
- How many people microwork in France? Estimating the size of a new labor force
- Professor Dr Oliver Serfling’s Crowdworking Monitor (Germany)
- The platformisation of work in Europe, Foundation For European Progressive Studies
Posted by Cheryl May
- Microtasking reports - March 12, 2020
- Microtasking project toolkit - March 2, 2020
- Microwork futures: strategic perspectives - February 24, 2020
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