Skills for work and life

Platform work is a form of employment that uses an online platform to enable organisations or individuals to access other organisations or individuals to solve problems or to provide services in exchange for payment. The main characteristics of platform work are the following:

• Paid work is organised through an online platform.
• Three parties are involved: the online platform, the client and the worker.
• The aim is to carry out specific tasks or solve specific problems.
• The work is contracted out.
• Jobs are broken down into tasks.
• Services are provided on demand.

As the main traded good is labour, rather than materials or capital, sales platforms (such as eBay) or platforms providing access to accommodation (such as Airbnb) or financial services fall outside this definition. Furthermore, non-commercial transactions like volunteering, networking, social media (such as LinkedIn) or any other form of unpaid transaction (such as Couchsurfing, which matches people looking for accommodation with people offering it free of charge) are not considered platform work. Accordingly, platform work refers to online platforms matching the supply of and demand for paid labour.