Gig Regulation: A Future Guide for the Construction Industry

Abstract

Technology has led to the advent of digitally enabled workforces like the gig workforce, but a number of issues confront this workforce. This study aims to identify the various issues facing the gig workforce as well as the regulatory measures and regulatory interactions proposed to guide stakeholders in addressing these challenges. This study is a review, with the methodology primarily based on secondary sources of data collection like journals and articles. This study reveals that the construction industry is not immune to the use of the gig workforce, as it often performs project-based construction work, jobs requiring highly specialized skills and commodity service jobs. This study also reveals that the gig workforce is confronted with primarily gig economy-induced platform-based challenges, such as the new nature of work, i.e., exploitative, precarious, and dangerous labour. Furthermore, this study also reveals that these issues can be addressed primarily through regulatory means and regulatory interactions between proposed regulatory measures and existing labour laws, which could be by Coordination, Competition, etc. This aligns with SDG 8, i.e., Decent Work and Economic Growth, as concerns issues related to their benefits, and SDG 10, i.e., Reduced Inequalities, as concerns issues related to their employment relations. The implication of this study for construction stakeholders relates to the development of new regulations and providing a valuable tool for analysing regulatory landscapes and understanding the dynamics of regulatory change, which contributes to scholarly discussions on fair labour practices and the protection of gig workers and helps inform policymaking that will help attract, motivate, retain, and engage more gig workers in the construction industry, which will foster proper workforce management.