Paper Number
2210
Paper Type
Complete Research Paper
Abstract
Online labor platforms are important in fulfilling temporary, short-term jobs. These platforms depend on the continuous activity of gig workers registered on their platform. But, compared to more traditional work arrangements, gig workers often put in lower effort and have higher turnover rates. In part, this might be because workers’ interactions with online labor platforms usually lack personal contact. In this paper, we perform a data-driven exploration of this idea as it pertains to the worker onboarding process. We exploit a natural experiment that occurred on a Dutch online labor platform to examine the impact of personal contact during the onboarding process. We find that gig workers who were called by a platform representative in the onboarding process applied to more jobs, worked more, earned more, and stayed active longer compared to non-called workers. Additional analyses suggest that this is likely due to increased gig worker engagement with the platform.
Recommended Citation
van Angeren, Joey and Boons, Mark, "Started for the Call, Continued for the Job: The Effect of Personal Contact in Online Labor Platform Onboarding on Worker Activity and Performance" (2024). ECIS 2024 Proceedings. 9.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/ecis2024/track05_fow/track05_fow/9
Started for the Call, Continued for the Job: The Effect of Personal Contact in Online Labor Platform Onboarding on Worker Activity and Performance
Online labor platforms are important in fulfilling temporary, short-term jobs. These platforms depend on the continuous activity of gig workers registered on their platform. But, compared to more traditional work arrangements, gig workers often put in lower effort and have higher turnover rates. In part, this might be because workers’ interactions with online labor platforms usually lack personal contact. In this paper, we perform a data-driven exploration of this idea as it pertains to the worker onboarding process. We exploit a natural experiment that occurred on a Dutch online labor platform to examine the impact of personal contact during the onboarding process. We find that gig workers who were called by a platform representative in the onboarding process applied to more jobs, worked more, earned more, and stayed active longer compared to non-called workers. Additional analyses suggest that this is likely due to increased gig worker engagement with the platform.
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