What Happens When the Gig Is Up? The Relationship Between Gig Work Histories and Future Career Prospects

Abstract

Despite the increasing popularity of gig work, often performed via online marketplaces and platforms, relatively little is known about how such work experiences may influence jobseekers’ future career trajectories. We explore the potential employment signals associated with gig work histories to gain some preliminary understanding of the mechanisms accounting for these signals. We carry out two survey experiments that simulate the hiring decisions of fictitious jobseekers with gig work histories to examine the labour market signals associated with gig work and the extent to which gig work experiences are (more) less preferred to standard employment histories. The findings of Study 1 reveal that for lower skilled jobs (i.e., the delivery driver), gig work experience is not perceived as inferior, nor does it impede employment prospects in the traditional labour market. However, for jobs requiring higher levels of education and/or skill (i.e., the retail manager and the graphic designer), a candidate with standard employment plus a gig work side-hustle is perceived qualitatively the same, but those with only gig work experience, even that which makes use of similar skillsets, are perceived as less desirable. Furthermore, we find that perceptions of lower human capital and a negative signal mediate the relationship between gig work history and the decision to hire the fictitious candidate. In Study 2, added as a replication and extension of Study 1, we found that the lower skilled job was perceived more negatively when the candidate had only gig work experience, whereas higher skilled jobs performed in the gig economy were associated with perceptions of lower human capital. We discuss the implications of the differences in perceptions of gig work for research, practice and society in general.