Industry 4.0 and an Evaluation of Digital Labor Platforms in the Context of Decent Work
Serpil Çiğdem YücelWorking life has undergone a major change in recent years. With Industry 4.0, the impact of digital technologies on work is increasingly felt. In this context, ILO’s “Future of Work ” initiative, begun in October 2017, is an important study aimed at revealing these changes in work and working lives and the solutions needed. The Global Commission for the Future of Work, which met four times at the meeting held last November 2018, announced the content of the report on the future of work at the 108th International Labor Conference in 2019. In this context, one of the transformations in the business world has been the growth of digital labor platforms or the gig economy. The ILO has been working on work platforms since 2015, and the report Digital Labor Platforms and the Future of Work, published in October 2018, is one of the most important publications prepared to support the initiatives of the Global Commission for the Future of Work.
This study focuses on the rise of digital labor platforms and new forms of self-employment with a view to changing business organizations following the thematic discussions ILO has held on the future of work. At the same time, digital labor platforms were analyzed within the framework of employment, fundamental rights of working life, social protection and social dialogue which are the components of the decent work concept. At the end of the study, gig employees were found to work within one of the most problematic areas in terms of decent work. Although the Gig economy has seen significant growth in recent years, its impact on labor rights is largely underestimated.
Endüstri 4.0 ve Dijital Emek Platformlarının İnsana Yakışır İş Bağlamında Değerlendirilmesi
Serpil Çiğdem YücelÇalışma hayatı, son yıllarda büyük bir değişim sürecine girmiştir. Endüstri 4.0 ile birlikte dijital teknolojilerin çalışma hayatına etkisi giderek daha fazla hissedilmektedir. Bu kapsamda, ILO’nun Ekim 2017’de çalışmalarına başlattığı “işin geleceği” girişimi, iş ve çalışma yaşamındaki değişimi ve ihtiyaç duyulan çözümleri ortaya koymayı hedefleyen önemli çalışmalardan biridir. En son Kasım 2018’de gerçekleşen toplantıyla dört kez bir araya gelen İşin Geleceği Küresel Komisyonu, 2019’daki 108. Uluslararası Çalışma Konferansında işin geleceğine ilişkin raporun içeriğini açıklamıştır. Bu kapsamda iş dünyasında gerçekleşen dönüşümlerden biri dijital emek platformlarının ya da gig ekonomisinin giderek büyümesi olmuştur. 2015’ten bu yana dijital platformlar üzerine çalışmalar yapan ILO’nun Ekim 2018’de yayımladığı “Dijital Emek Platformları ve İşin Geleceği” adlı rapor, İşin Geleceği Küresel Komisyonu’nun girişimlerini desteklemek için hazırlanmış önemli çalışmalardan biridir.
Bu çalışma, ILO’nun işin geleceğine ilişkin gerçekleştirdiği tematik tartışmalardan değişen iş organizasyonları temelinde, dijital emek platformları ve yeni kendi hesabına çalışma biçimlerinin yükselişini konu edinmektedir. Aynı zamanda insana yakışır iş kavramının bileşenleri olan istihdam, çalışma yaşamına ilişkin temel haklar, sosyal koruma ve sosyal diyalog çerçevesinde dijital emek platformlarının analizi yapılmaya çalışılmıştır. Çalışmanın sonunda insana yakışır iş açısından en sorunlu alanlardan birinin gig çalışanlar olduğu görülmüştür. Gig ekonomisinde son yıllarda belirgin bir büyüme görülmesine rağmen emek hakları üzerindeki etkisi büyük ölçüde göz ardı edilmektedir.
In conclusion, based on the findings of the present study, it appears that political, demographic and economic factors are the predictors of the number of conventions ratified by member states. For future research, it is important to examine other possible factors affecting the number of conventions ratified. Thus further studies should focus on other variables, such as union density, social awareness and the role of trade unions in connection with the number of conventions ratified.
The four main drivers of Industry 4.0 are the Internet of Things (IoT), the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), Cloud based manufacturing and smart manufacturing which helps in transforming the manufacturing process into one which is both intelligent and fully digitized. The nine pillars of Industry 4.0 are: big data and analytics, autonomous robots, simulation, system integration - horizontal and vertical system integration, the industrial internet of things, cyber security, the cloud, additive manufacturing, and augmented reality. The fourth Industrial Revolution transforms the global economy and society in an unprecedented way. Within industry, fundamental changes in business models occur as new production, consumption and distribution methods change and new forms of work emerge. The digital economy is a recently-emerging phenomenon of increasing importance given the estimates of double-digit annual growth around the world. There is a growing intersection between work and digital technologies, and a diversity of business models relating to that intersection. As a result, a profusion of terminology has emerged. This include both web-based platforms, where work is outsourced through an open call to a geographically dispersed crowdwork and location-based applications (apps) which allocate work to individuals in a specific geographical area. The gig economy is not a new concept, but it has been on the rise with the fourth Industrial Revolution. The rise of the gig economy is an important development in both economy and labor relations. In each period, short term, temporary contracts were observed. But today, there is a significant increase in the number of studies on the gig economy. The gig economy has received enormous attention over the past few years. Since 2015, the ILO has been working on digital work platforms to understand the impact of new forms of work organization on workers and employment in general.
The rise of digital labor platforms increases the importance of the gig economy by assisting in the elimination of imbalances in the labor market and supporting future jobs. Despite performing valuable work for many highly successful companies, compensation from crowdwork is often lower than minimum wages. Workers must manage unpredictable income streams, and they work without the standard labour protections of an employment relationship. These platforms can classify workers as self-employed or independet contractors. As a result, in the absence of the application of employment law protection - especially minimum wage and collective wage agreements - a client can obtain a service much cheaper than the one provided by a traditional organisation. Despite the potential of crowdwork platforms to provide employment opportunities, there are a number of concerns related to the workers’ unclear employment status, unfair treatment, low earnings, non-payment, lack of social protection, and lack of voice.
This study assesses the impact of digital technologies on the labor market on the basis of ILO’s future of work, in the context of decent work. There is a growing intersection between work and digital technologies, and various business models and forms of employment are emerging. Standard employment contracts and the employment relationship established with an employer have changed significantly. However, legal regulations on working life only partially cover non-standard employment. The long-term trends in non-standard labor regulations stem from the rise of digital labor platforms or the gig economy. Despite the ILO’s efforts to create decent jobs, the appearance of digital labor platforms within the framework of employment, fundamental rights of working life, social protection and social dialogue has been found to be problematic in terms of the concept of decent work.