Migration and telemigration in the gig economy - September 24, 2021

The growth of the Gig economy has demonstrated that the labour market has no geographical boundaries and this is the reason why the Gig economy, migrations and telemigration are so deeply connected.

This event will aim at deepening the impact (benefits and issues) that platform economy has both on physical migrations (from a country to another, from rural to urban areas and vice versa) and telemigration (alias “telecommuting from abroad”: digital workers with the opportunity to work with companies and customers from anywhere in the world, regardless of their country of residence).

We’ll look at the migrants and telemigrants’ experiences: who are they? What do they do? Why do they choose this type of work? Which are the challenges they face?

Then we’ll present case studies and good examples about the Gig economy and (tele)migration to give the participants some practical solutions and proposals: government initiatives, communities that help migrant workers and remote workers to access the labour market in a regulated way and support them by sharing opportunities, research.

2:00 PM - 2:05 PM	Welcome
	Paulien Osse, Director of WageIndicator Foundation, welcoming all attendants and explaining the rules of engagement.

In this 40-minutes panel, we explore the up- and downsides of (tele)migration and gig work, based on international cases. After a short introduction by Niels van Doorn, the two cases will share their vision and experience in a 3-minute pitch. After that, they will have a discussion led by moderator Van Doorn.

Niels van Doorn is Assistant Professor of New Media and Digital Culture in the Department of Media Studies (Faculty of the Humanities) at the University of Amsterdam. He is the Principal Investigator of the ERC-funded Platform Labor research project, which investigates the impacts of platformization on labor, social reproduction and urban governance in Berlin, Amsterdam and New York. His current research is focused particularly on the role of migrant labor in urban gig economies and the opportunities and challenges migrant gig workers have to negotiate. Niels is also a Fellow at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIAS), Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Science (KNAW). He holds an MSc and PhD in Communication Science from the University of Amsterdam.

Divya Balan is Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Studies at FLAME University, Pune, with a Doctorate in International Studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, India. She has received several scholarships and research grants and is also a member of several other academic organisations. Her teaching and research interests include international, internal and forced migration, India-Gulf migration corridor, migration governance, Indian diaspora, and refugees in India. She is an active public speaker on themes related to migration and refugees. Website

Christopher Maclay is the global Director of Youth Employment at Mercy Corps, where he is supporting the emerging ecosystem of start-ups working on the future of work and the platform economy. He has spent over a decade working in the youth employment and economic development space in Africa, Asia, and his native UK, working with NGOs, donors, and the private sector. Most recently, he was COO at Lynk, the heralded start-up connecting informal workers to jobs in Kenya. Website | Twitter

Martijn Arets is the founder of GigCV: an easy tool for anyone working in or gaining work experience in the gig economy. With this open standard, you will be able to easily download your own reputation and transaction data, which serves as proof of your work experience and skills on connected platforms. Website | Twitter

Mohd Redzuan Affandi Bin Abdul Rahim is the Director of Sharing Economy Development at Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC). Malaysian Government Policies around Gig Economy are initiatives around the Gig Economy to help the youth to be up-skilled and work on freelancer platforms.

Viola Nuwaha is currently the Head of Talent Sourcing at Tunga, where she ensures a successful developer client match. She holds an MSc in Information Technology from Carnegie Mellon University. Viola has 5 years’ experience in implementing mobile and web-based technological solutions for private, not-for-profit, and government entities across Africa and Europe. Website | Twitter

Ignacio 'Nacho' Basso is one of the founders & currently Head of Sales at Seeds, the community of freelancers that is (r)evolving the way companies access talent, & talent access projects with the best companies. Nacho is an Industrial Engineer from ITBA (Technological Institute of Buenos Aires), an institution where he met his partner and co-founder of Seeds. Website | Twitter

Hannah Brown is a digital policy and content professional with over 10 years' experience in law, public policy and communications. She is Head of Content of e-Residency, a programme powered by the Republic of Estonia which provides foreign entrepreneurs with digital access to the nation’s advanced e-governance services and business environment. Website | Twitter

Join your favorite case study for a 30-minutes deep dive.

3:55 PM - 4:05 PM	Closing Keynote speech
	Closing Keynote Speech by Martin Kahanec. Kahanec is the Dean (2020-21) of the School of Public Policy at the Central European University in Vienna

Learn more about WageIndicator's Platform Economy project