German Institute for Global and Area Studies | Leibniz-Institut für Globale und Regionale Studien

GIGA Talk

Platforms and Online Workers in India and Africa: Challenges and Opportunities for Decent Work 

Date

26/04/2023

Start

02:00 p.m. (UTC)

End

03:15 p.m. (UTC)

Video GIGA Talk Online Workers

The emergence of online labour platforms in the Global South is rapidly changing the world of work. On the one hand, online work may create new opportunities for those who would otherwise have no access to similarly gainful employment or be able to join the global knowledge economy. On the other, online work may put pressure on labour markets (and labour rights) in the Global North, as online work is outsourced to the lowest bidders in the Global South. Online workers from the Global South may perform mundane, low-paid work at arms-length, without much learning or significant contractual benefits, and without pathways to high-value services in the global knowledge economy. These and other issues will be discussed in this GIGA Talk, as based on new findings by GIGA researchers as well as other experts.

Speakers: Sandra Flicke-Lötzsch (tbc.) is Component Lead at atingi and Former Head of Project “Future of Work” at Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.

Dr. Otto Kässi is aResearcher at the Etla Economic Research Institute and a Research Associate at the Oxford Internet Institute.

Tevin Tafese is a Research Fellow at the GIGA.

Elvis Melia is a Researcher at Universität Duisburg-Essen and a Research Associate at the German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).

Dr. Uma Rani is Senior Economist at the Research Department of the International Labour Organization (ILO).

Moderator: Prof. Dr. Jann Lay is Lead Research Fellow and Head of the Research Programme “Globalisation and Development” at the GIGA.

Organisers

Tevin Tafese

Doctoral Researcher

Prof. Dr. Jann Lay

Lead Research Fellow / Head of Research Programme "Globalisation and Development"

Prof. Dr. Bert Hoffmann

Lead Research Fellow / Co-Leader of the GIGA Institute for Latin American Studies (ad interim) Head GIGA Berlin Office

Address

GIGA Berlin Office, Friedrichstraße 206, 10969 Berlin, and online

Preliminary Publications

Good gigs if you get them: analysis of working schedules and wages of platform workers in India (PDF)The 3 a.m. Phone Call: A Gendered Perspective on the Working Conditions of Kenyan Online Writers (PDF)Platform Work as an Opportunity for Aspiring IT-workers? Evidence from four Sub-Saharan African Countries (PDF)

Videos of the series

Audios of the Series

We offer our events digitally or in hybrid setting. We monitor the current pandemic situation and act accordingly. We look forward to your participation.

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