Crowdsourcing and work: individual factors and circumstances influencing employability

• Author: Sally‐Anne Barnes,Anne Green,Maria Hoyos
• Published date: 01 March 2015
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/ntwe.12043
• Date: 01 March 2015

Crowdsourcing and work: individual factors

and circumstances influencing employability

Sally-Anne Barnes, Anne Green and Maria de Hoyos

The development of a fast and reliable Internet, new technol-

ogies online payment systems, and changes in work structure

that enable and demand flexible working patterns have driven

a move to a new form of Internet-enabled labour exchange

called crowdsourcing. Evidence from an in-depth qualitative

study is presented, focusing on selected users’ interactions and

experiences of working on two UK-based crowdsourcing plat-

forms. The paper shows that workers engaged in this form of

labour exchange need to deploy existing employability skills

and networks to effectively meet the challenges, and take

advantage of the opportunities, that crowdsourcing presents.

Individual factors and circumstances emerge as paramount for

workers’ continued engagement in this form of employment.

Using selected components from an employability framework,

the findings suggest that crowdsourcing can offer new path-

ways to practising skills and enhancing employability for

some workers.

Keywords: crowdsourcing, Internet-enabled work,

employability, technology, case study research, skills

development.

Introduction

In the context of globalisation, rapidly changing markets and labour demands, ICT

implementation and adoption have enabled and presented opportunities and chal-

lenges for new waysof organising, managing and engaging in work. Challenges range

from work intensification and employee strain to risking the benefits that traditional

forms of work are seen to guarantee, including a wage floor and the bargaining power

afforded by collective organisation (Törenli, 2010; Cavazotte et al., 2014; Chesley,2014).

Inherent in these challenges is the potential of ICT to increase work flexibility and the

creation of forms of work that might suit individuals with different needs, preferences

and resources.

Sally-Anne Barnes (Sally-Anne.Barnes@warwick.ac.uk) is a senior research fellow at the Institute for

Employment Research, University of Warwick.Her research interests focus on contexts of technology

implementation and application and ICT based innovations in learning. Her current research is

examining the inter-relationship between technology, work, careers and learning. Anne Green

(Anne.Green@warwick.ac.uk)is at the Institute for Employment Research, University of Warwick. Her

research interests focus on geographical aspects of labour markets. She has undertaken policy-relevant

research on a range of topics related to non-employment,new forms of employment and employability.

Maria de Hoyos (Maria.de-Hoyos@warwick.ac.uk) is a research fellow at the Institute for Employment

Research, University of Warwick. Her researchinterests focus on individuals’ work and career devel-

opment within and outside employment, including exploration of the relationship between ICT and

employment related issues.

New Technology, Work and Employment 30:1

ISSN 0268-1072

© 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd16 New Technology, Work and Employment

There is evidence that new ICT-enabled waysof working are developing and growth

is expected to continue (Frei, 2009; Elance, 2012; Bergvall-Kåreborn and Howcroft,

2013; Esposti, 2013), although future work practices may diverge fromthose predicted

(Warhurstet al., 2006). The development of a fast and reliable Internet, new cloud-based

technologies, and new online payment systems, services and facilities, and changes in

work structure that enable and demand flexible working patterns have driven the shift

from traditional work patterns to, and growth in, crowdsourcing: a new form of

Internet-enabled labour exchange.

Crowdsourcing is defined as the outsourcing of work to a large group through an

open call made possible through advancesin technology. Theterm was coined by Howe

(2006; 2008) and focuses on ‘crowds’ performing jobs that were traditionally assigned to

a designatedagent. Firms may choose to use crowdsourcing as an alternative to subcon-

tractinga problem to a specific supplier or solving a problem internally(Afuah and Tucci,

2012). The term crowdsourcing is evolving as new aspects of using Internet-enabled

exchanges in work-related activities emerge. Crowdsourcing for paid work is used

throughout this article to emphasise the focus on platforms and websites where people

can search and access paid work, which is often, but not always, conducted remotely.

While it is difficult to quantify numbers involved in crowdsourcing for paid work, 2009

estimates suggested thatthere were over two million workers engaged in this activity in

just ten international companies surveyed (Frei, 2009). Estimating the entire scale of

crowdsourcing for paid work is challenging as crowdsourcing platforms and websites

rarely publish numbers of registered or active users.

A review undertaken to better understand how ICT and associated skills, applica-

tions and usages could improve people’s employability (i.e. helping them to gain,

sustain and progress in employment) (de Hoyos et al., 2013; Green et al., 2013) high-

lighted a gap in research on how new forms of Internet-enabled labour exchanges

impact on individuals’ employability and labour market interactions. The research

presented here aims to help address this gap by exploring the interaction between

crowdsourcing and individuals’ employability. This is complex given rapid develop-

ments in technology and evolving labour markets. The paper explores whether and

how new online interactions may provide opportunities for accessing work and/or

opportunities to develop skills and social networks, and so suggests how these inter-

actions can potentially impact on an individual’s employabilityand future employment

prospects.

The paper proceeds by defining crowdsourcing as a type of Internet-enabled labour

exchange and providing an overview of related current literature and research. Evi-

dence from other research is used to profile crowdsourced workers and examine the

motivations and incentives for their engagement in this form of work. This serves as

background to the qualitative case study evidence analysed in this paper.The method-

ology and process of analysis are presented next, before selected elements of the

employability framework used to examine the findings are detailed. The evidence

specifically focuses on dimensions of employability related to individual factors (such

as skills and attributes) and individual circumstances (such as household characteris-

tics and access to networks), while acknowledging the contextual importance of other

dimensions of employability. The paper concludes by assessing the role and impact

of engagement in crowdsourcing for paid work on workers’ employability and

employment.

Crowdsourcing: Internet-enabled labour exchange

Crowdsourcing for paid work is a relatively new form of managing and organising a

(potentially) geographicallydispersed pool of labour using the Internet. Its definition is

contested and evolving. Felstiner’s definition (2011) of crowdsourcing, in which skills

levels and monetary compensation are central components, is used here: ‘adiscrete set

of cognitive tasks, performed and compensated atpiece rate within an online platform.

Some tasks require low to moderate skill and can be performed in a comparatively

short period of time. Others call for more qualifications and expertise’ (147). An early

© 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd Crowdsourcing and work 17