Shaping the textile women’s digital work sustainability by legislative and taxation adjustments

Abstract

The objective of this study is to examine the relationships between factors connected to the capability aspects of the female working on the digital platform and the performance-sustainability of that employment. There are selected 3 groups of factors: first, professional learning and digital skills and capabilities of digital female workers; second, entrepreneurial learning and orientation as a personal and corporate precondition for successful work online on a platform, and third group of factors connected to the legal ecosystem issues, tax, social protection, and labour relations as important frameworks to digital work sustainability. The dependent variable is defined as females from textile and fashion design sub-sectors working online on the platform's sustainability, treated as performance. Empirical research with 396 female participants working online on platforms connected to the jobs, tasks, and freelancing from textile, fashion design, and other textile sub-sectors was provided in Serbia in 2022. They have by a five-level Likert scale evaluated the level of the factors and their 16 statements' impact on the dependent variable. All three independent variables do exhibit a positive relationship with the dependent one. The most significant influence has the professional and digital skills and capabilities of female workers or their corporations. The paper’s findings can serve to remind female digital workers that they cannot neglect the element of entrepreneurial capabilities and digital and professional skills in their digital activities. The results can be useful for the government to enforce consistent, dynamic, and adjusted taxation, social protection, incentives, and employment regulations for textile female digital workers and all others in boosting employment within new flexible patterns and technologies. The research is further shown relative to the SDGs on gender equality, digital divide issues, and pillars of social, economic, and environmental sustainability. The research model for this study was drawn from the literature on digitalization, work flexibility, institutional, financial and social theory and contributes to the current literature.