Exploring Gig Work and the Link to Well-Being

Abstract

Gig work witnessed a rapid growth in recent years and increased in interest to researchers. Current research of gig work and its impact on worker well-being is not well understood, which highlights the need for research to synthesize the existing literature on gig work and worker well-being. Specifically, this project identified the need for research to map, synthesize, analyze, and report themes on gig work and its impact on workers’ well-being. This semi-systematic literature review of gig work literature addresses this gap by focusing on gig work - as labor contracted and compensated on a short‑term basis through an external labor market - and well-being, capturing both momentary emotions and longer‑term psychological health. By conducting a semi-systematic review of 118 articles published up to 2024, this project revealed that gig work impacts the well-being of workers through a complex interaction of multiple factors - individual, social, organizational, societal - that have both positive impacts on workers as well as negative ones. Based on these findings the author proposes a series of contributions to practice and research. Thus, this thesis serves as a foundation to drive the literature on gig work by providing a comprehensive view of the factors impacting the well-being of workers.