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Online panel survey on dynamic work patterns in digital labour platforms

The size of the collaborative economy and its potentially disruptive impact on traditional forms of employment is continuously increasing. Therefore it is important to understand its dynamics as well as the characteristics and experiences of online platform workers. Nonetheless, a lack of official statistics on employment via digital labour platforms exists, making it difficult to fully assess the potential benefits and challenges posed by this form of employment. 

To contribute to filling this gap, PPMI designed and implemented a second online panel survey to gather knowledge from EU citizens/service providers participating in activities on digital labour platforms (COLLEEM). The survey covered 16 countries in the EU, and collected more than 2,300 responses from each country, yielding an overall total of over 38,000 responses. To carry out the project, PPMI had to work in 15 different European languages, ensuring questionnaire translations were culturally and linguistically appropriate, and overcoming the challenges to find a clear language to speak about such a new and fluid phenomenon. The research team also analysed the data and prepared reports at country and EU levels discussing the survey’s main findings.

The survey results increase the understanding of the EU citizens/service providers who work on digital labour platforms, their socio-demographic characteristics, working conditions, the types of work they carry out, and the remuneration they receive from such activities. It is expected that this project will encourage the adoption of better-informed policies towards the collaborative economy.