According to the International Labour Organisation, the number of digital labour platforms has multiplied by five in just the last ten years. The Covid-19 pandemic has further accelerated the digitalisation of the workplace and the expansion of the gig economy across different sectors.
Gig work can offer women opportunities, for example, to enter or re-enter the labour market, earn an income, gain financial independence and flexibility… At the same time, however, many women across the world are encountering significant challenges in finding decent work in the gig economy.
Women in Gig Work webinar series
Women in Gig Work: Web-Based Work is the 6th webinar within WageIndicator's Gig Work webinar series, and the second session focused specifically on women. This session of Women in Gig Work revolves around women's experiences in online web-based platforms.
It is absolutely not necessary to have attended the first session in order to enjoy this webinar.
The first Women in Gig Work webinar on 27 October 2022 focused on domestic work, one of the sectors where digital platforms are expanding across the world. Domestic workers are, according to the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA), the “original gig workers”. The sector is characterized for being highly informal, highly feminized and racialised, and for having precarious working conditions.
Agenda
Welcome2.00pm - 2.05pm |
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Fiona DragstraDirector WageIndicator Foundation Welcoming all attendants and explaining the rules of engagement |
Opening Keynote2.05pm - 2.15pm |
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Janna BesamuscaJanna Besamusca is a leading researcher at WageIndicator, where she is in charge of multiple projects related to Collective Agreements, such as BARWAGE. She is also a member of the Supervisory Board of WageIndicator Foundation. Janna is an assistant professor of Interdisciplinary Social Science at Utrecht University. She obtained her PhD from the University of Amsterdam in 2019 for her research into the position of mothers in the labour market in middle- and high-income countries. As a labor sociologist, she has conducted research into decent work in low wage sectors, wages in collective bargaining, self-employment and motherhood, and the effects of work-family policies on mothers’ labour market position. More info |
Panel Discussion2.15pm - 2.50pmIn this panel we will discuss the motivations that drive women to find and do remote work through digital platforms. We will talk about some of the myths around 'empowerment' and 'flexibility' as well as some of the opportunities and challenges that women face in finding decent work in the gig economy. |
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Moderator: Olivia BlanchardOlivia is a senior researcher and has authored several reports on the impact of technology on society, with a focus on the digitalisation of care, the future of work and the gig economy. Her current work draws on over 15 years' international experience in research and advocacy in humanitarian aid, human rights and gender-based violence. She has a degree in Political Sciences (Bristol University, UK), she's trained in social science research methods (London School of Economics) and has a postgraduate certificate in Introducing a Gender Perspective in Projects and Public Policy - Theory & Methods (COLPIS, Barcelona). Olivia collaborates with the WageIndicator Platform Work team and works for the Digital Future Society think tank in Barcelona, Spain. More info |
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Funda UstekPost-Doctoral Researcher and Project Manager at Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford Funda Ustek Spilda is a researcher and project manager at Fairwork, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford. She studies issues of justice, fairness and ethics in relation to technology & work, with a focus on digital labour platforms. More info |
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Grace NatabaaloResearch Lead at Caribou Digital Grace is a Research Lead at Caribou Digital and is focused on the intersection between digital platforms and the livelihoods of young people in Africa. In 2021, she worked closely with Caribou Digital's research partners to explore the platform livelihoods of young women in Nigeria, Kenya, and Ghana. Grace has written and co-authored several articles on the platform livelihoods of young Africa for various online publications. More info |
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Uma RaniUma Rani is Senior Economist at the Research Department of the International Labour Office. She has conducted research on informal economy, minimum wages, poverty and inequality issues with a focus on gender. Since 2016 she has been working on digital transformations in the world of work, wherein she tries to explore how labour and social institutions could be strengthened to address economic and social inequality. She recently coordinated the major flagship report of the ILO on 'World Employment and Social Outlook 2021: The role of digital labour platforms in transforming the world of work'. |
Best Practices2.45pm - 3.20pMIn this recurring session, one outstanding speaker will share their experience how they work on improving conditions for gig workers. |
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Moderator: Martijn AretsMartijn is an international expert and thinker in the field of emergence and development of the platform economy. Since 2012 Martijn is traveling the world to talk to entrepreneurs, experts and other stakeholders. Martijn advices corporations, national and local governments and other institutions. He is part of the gig team of the Wageindicator Foundation and the Platform Economy research group at The Hague University of Applied Sciences. Moreover, Martijn is the founder of GigCV: an easy tool for anyone working in or gaining work experience in the gig economy. More info |
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Adinda Alvares, SkillscvAdinda Alvares is the Product Owner of SkillsCV, an online tech solution with the ambition to make (unused) potential within the labour market visible. The goal of SkillsCV is to match employees and employers based on the skills they have and need. Resumes and job adverts will be converted into verified and desired skills, to promote a more meaningful and inclusive job market. In the process, SkillsCV wants to guarantee the following four core values: Autonomy, Trust, Transparency, and Inclusion. |
Closing reflection3.20pm - 3.25pm |
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Thank you and Goodbye3.25pm - 3.30pm |
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