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PRESS RELEASE
July 31, 2024
Contact: Michelle Mittelstadt
202-266-1910

[email protected]

Governments Should Address Migration Blind Spot in Gig Economy Responses

WASHINGTON, DC — Even though immigrants are at the heart of the gig economy, which has witnessed a meteoric rise over the last decade or so, governments have largely overlooked key immigration-related considerations while racing to develop policy for the sector.

A Migration Policy Institute (MPI) policy brief out today examines government responses around the globe to the rise of the gig economy and migrant participation within it, and how gig economy labor policies and migration policies could be adjusted to benefit migrants, receiving communities and labor markets.

A patchy yet growing body of evidence indicates that immigrants in many countries play a key role in the gig economy—that is, work or services mediated through digital platforms and generally performed by independent contractors or freelancers. Yet migration and migrants have been somewhat of an afterthought, with governments focusing on issues such as how to classify gig workers or expanding eligibility for minimum wages and holiday or sick pay.

Even where policymakers have sought to think creatively, for example the inclusion of gig workers in social protection systems, they have largely overlooked key considerations in the migration policy space, the policy brief, Bridging the Gap Between the Gig Economy and Migration Policy, explains. Employment can be a condition for visa renewal or immigration status adjustment, for example, and most work visa streams are framed around employer-employee relationships, which does not match the reality in some sectors.

“Gig workers are not just delivery and rideshare drivers, but also coders, care workers and IT specialists,” the brief notes. “As governments refine immigration policies to reflect their countries’ shifting economic needs, they should carefully consider the interconnection of gig work and immigration, including what visa options exist outside of the employer–employee relationship and what flexible work arrangements are permitted.”

The brief sketches the challenges and opportunities gig workers face. While app-based delivery services and other gig work provide easier entry and flexibility for newcomers, especially those facing language barriers or credential recognition issues, they also come with significant drawbacks. These include unpredictable income, limited social protections and fewer opportunities for career advancement. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted both the essential nature of gig work and the vulnerabilities of gig workers, particularly migrants, with many excluded from government support measures.

These realities underscore the need for policies that address the unique circumstances of migrant gig workers, MPI analysts Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh and Meghan Benton argue. They recommend that governments, civil society and platform companies collaborate to ensure that immigrant integration programming is accessible and relevant for gig workers, explore ways to combine gig work with training in shortage sectors like care work and create incentives for gig workers to save for retirement and periods of unemployment.

Migration and platform work have both activated public anxieties in recent years, but symbolic ‘one-shot’ policies are unlikely to help address this complex, still-unfolding phenomenon,” Putzel-Kavanaugh and Benton conclude. “Governments will need to work across portfolios and develop a multifaceted approach to these issues if labor and migration systems are to serve the best interests of migrants, receiving countries and companies alike.”

Read the brief here: www.migrationpolicy.org/research/gig-economy-migration-policy.

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The Migration Policy Institute is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit think tank in Washington, D.C. dedicated to analysis of the movement of people worldwide. MPI provides analysis, development and evaluation of migration and refugee policies at the local, national and international levels. For more on MPI, please visit www.migrationpolicy.org.

 

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