Digitalisation of the economy and its impact on labour markets —

Christophe Degryse
Figure 2
Classification <strong>of</strong> nine new forms <strong>of</strong> employment
Employees
Self-employed
Employment
relationship
Employee sharing
Job sharing
Voucher-based work
Interim management
Portfolio work
Crowd employment
Work pattern
Casual work
ICT-based mobile work
Collaborative
employment
Source: Eur<strong>of</strong>ound (2015)
Platforms without legal or social security responsibilities
For <strong>the</strong> user <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se services, Upwork is <strong>the</strong> perfect illustration <strong>of</strong> this radical
simplification <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> labour relationship, described as follows:
1. ‘post your project;
2. choose from top talent;
3. hire <strong>and</strong> collaborate with ease;
4. pay only for work approved.’
The same logic is applied at Uber where <strong>the</strong>re exists no form <strong>of</strong> employment
contract for service providers: ‘Drivers get paid only when <strong>the</strong>y work <strong>and</strong> are
responsible for <strong>the</strong>ir own pensions <strong>and</strong> health care. Risks borne by companies
are being pushed back on to individuals’ (The Economist 2015a).
At Airbnb legal <strong>and</strong> social security risks <strong>and</strong> liabilities are even more radically
cast aside. The general terms <strong>and</strong> conditions specify that ‘you underst<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong>
agree that Airbnb is not a party to any agreements entered into between hosts
<strong>and</strong> guests, nor is Airbnb a real estate broker, agent or insurer. Airbnb has no
control over <strong>the</strong> conduct <strong>of</strong> hosts, guests <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r users <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> site, application
<strong>and</strong> services or any accommodations, <strong>and</strong> disclaims all liability in this regard
to <strong>the</strong> maximum extent permitted by law’ (Airbnb 2015).
These companies concentrate exclusively on <strong>the</strong>ir core business which consists
in linking up supply <strong>and</strong> dem<strong>and</strong>, disclaiming all o<strong>the</strong>r types <strong>of</strong> responsibility
or commitment. As we have seen, Upwork <strong>of</strong>fers <strong>the</strong> services <strong>of</strong> more than 10
million workers but refuses to regard <strong>its</strong>elf as an employer. Similarly, Airbnb
(or Uber) has become one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> largest accommodation (or transport) services
in <strong>the</strong> world without owning a single room (or fleet <strong>of</strong> vehicles), without
exercising <strong>the</strong> least contractual, legal or penal liability in <strong>its</strong> mediation service,
<strong>and</strong> with a minimum <strong>of</strong> salaried staff. Airbnb, Uber, Upwork have no more
than a few hundred direct employees.
34 WP 2016.02