Bristol Uni study reveals most 'gig economy' workers worry about review websites
The study was led by researchers from the University of Bristol and the University of Oxford
Across the globe, scores of workers grapple with online reviews - with new research showing most are in fear of online reviews sacrificing their future income.
The University of Bristol and University of Oxford have led a new study - finding the majority of workers in the 'gig economy' feel 'under threat' from review websites.
With the cost of living crisis continuing to bite, those working as freelance workers in the so-called 'gig economy' could be seen to some of the most at-risk of falling under the cracks, thanks to being under the wrath of reviews by customers.
For the research, the institutions analysed some of the biggest gig economy platforms - such as Upwork and Fiverr - which both use customer feedback to provide ratings, and ultimately dictate how attractive they are to potential customers.
However, what researchers found was they algorithms lack transparency and are highly volatile, meaning workers are left vulnerable if customers leave bad reviews, even if a good job is done.
A staggering seven in 10 gig economy freelancers around the world were worried about their clients giving unfair feedback - something which could ultimately affect their future earnings.
The situation is creating a growing trend of ‘reputational insecurity’, where self-employed contract workers are experiencing greater instability and concern about future access to work.
Lead author sociologist Dr Alex Wood, Lecturer in Human Resource Management and Future of Work at Bristol Business School, said: "We started noticing people around the world were engaged with freelance work, connecting with clients on the other side of the globe to find work.
"Something that's inherent in gig work is the unstable nature of people's income, and the insecurity that entails. That then means if there are sudden financial changes, that'll create a huge amount of worry - they can't guarantee their levels of income.
"What we found is that freelancers face a new form of insecurity from review websites. No longer is reputation dependent on word of mouth, but as long as that worker is on that platform, their lives are determined by the reviews they get online. There could be one bad customer, or one review, and you may lose your ability to make an income.
"We have the cost of living crisis - but that's being amplified in the gig economy, in which reviews have transformed how people across the globe find work."
The fleeting nature of reviews also means some workers have been resorting to put in extra hours unpaid or even doing entire jobs for free in a desperate bid to avoid negative ratings. In London, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Manila, surveys of nearly 900 gig economy workers from the UK and Europe found around seven in 10 (67%) of the 436 UK workers agreed ‘reputational insecurity’ is widespread while 62% of the 430 from Europe felt this was true.
Dr Alex added: "Common across these different locations was how platforms was disrupting how trust and reputation operate in freelance markets. They're based on algorithmic markers, with work funneled towards workers with the highest rating, maybe categorised as 'rising stars' - all which created a new form of visibility of how 'good' people ultimately are at their jobs.
"People now face this constant level of anxiety - but we also found they work for free in the gig economy, so clients keep coming back to them in the future. Workers we spoke to fear these bad ratings - and there are some people who've lost thousands of pounds because of one bad review.
“It was shocking how workers expressed continuous worry about the potential consequences of receiving a single bad rating from an unfair or malevolent client, and how this could leave them unable to continue making a living.”
Study co-author Vili Lehdonvirta, Professor of Economic Sociology and Digital Social Research from the University of Oxford, said: “This study is important as tech companies continue to rewire the social fabric of our lives and platform rating and reputation systems are becoming increasingly ubiquitous beyond the gig economy.
"Therefore, countering these processes of reputational insecurity will not only be an important policy endeavour for improving gig work but also the wider platform economy.”
According to The Understanding Society, there are approximately 600,000 gig economy workers in the UK - those are people who have used a website, platform or app to make money.
Around a third of those are remote workers.