GetUpFreelancer

Summary

Online freelancing offers two potential benefits to workers, the first of which is flexibility. Flexibility stems from workers’ ability to decide when they want to work,

The second potential benefit of online freelance marketplaces is the promise of equality. Many studies have uncovered discrimination in traditional labour markets, where conscious and unconscious biases can limit the opportunities available to workers from marginalized groups. In contrast, online platforms can act as neutral intermediaries that preclude human biases. For example, when a customer requests a personal assistant from Fancy Hands,

they do not select which worker will complete the task; instead, an algorithm routes the task to any available worker. Thus, in these cases, customers’ preexisting biases cannot influence hiring decisions. While online freelancing marketplaces offer the promise of labor equality, it is unclear whether this goal is being achieved in practice.