It’s 18 months since the World Health Organisation officially declared that the spread of covid-19 around the world constituted a pandemic. One year and a half on, everything has been changed in one way or another by the global crisis that has ensued, not least the gig economy and the world of work and digital technology more broadly.

But what precisely can we say about how the pandemic has changed the gig economy on a global scale?

One of the most systematic global assessments of the gig economy was published last month by the International Labour Review. ‘Stripping back the mask: Working conditions on digital labour platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic’ is authored by researchers connected to the University of Oxford’s Fair Work Foundation, and is based on reviews of the policies of over 191 platforms in 43 countries.

Kelle Howson, postdoctoral researcher on the Fairwork project at the University of Oxford, is one of the author’s of ‘Stripping back the mask’. Howson works on improving labour standards for platform workers in South Africa, and has previously worked as a senior researcher in New Zealand’s Labour Government.

The Gig Economy Project spoke to Howson about the first 18 months of the pandemic and its impact on the gig economy worldwide, using the ‘Stripping back the mask’ paper as the starting point for discussion. This podcast includes discussion of:

01:22: What has the pandemic revealed about the nature of gig work?

9:04: How has the pandemic affected the dynamics of the platform economy?

17:04: Worker resistance, legal and legislative changes in the platform economy during the pandemic

32:53: How do we draw attention to less visible gig workers?

37:77: Overall assessment of 18 months of the pandemic and platform work