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Understanding the risks and rewards of gig work requires examining how gig workers themselves feel about their work and how work satisfaction may vary even among workers on the same gig platform. Platform dependence theory posits that financially disadvantaged workers who depend on gig work for essential income will be less satisfied, in part, because they are less able to work their preferred schedules. These predictions, however, have not been tested quantitatively. Using survey data from workers who do gig microtasks on Amazon's Mechanical Turk platform (MTurk), we examine how platform dependence, schedule mismatches (between preferred and actual work schedules), and work stress are related to work satisfaction. We find that all three factors are associated with lower satisfaction. Furthermore, we find support for a hypothesized mediating mechanism: platform dependence lowers satisfaction, in part, because it is associated with more mismatches between workers' preferred and actual schedules. We conclude by discussing reforms that could improve satisfaction for all microtask workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The gig economy is an employment system that has emerged as an alternative to the traditional economy. The concept of gig economy means "short-term work". It is an employment system consisting of freelance and short-term jobs that do not go to a physical organization, where customers, not employers, are present. There are two areas in the lives of working people: working life and private life. In general, work-life balance can be considered as the balance that people try to create between their working and private lives. The aim of the current study is to examine the work-life balance of gig economy employees. The results of the research conducted with 10 gig workers show that gig workers have switched to a remote working due to the pandemic, and while they have the flexibility to manage time compared to traditional work, they see the lack of a workplace environment where they can socialize as a disadvantage. While gig work provides work-life balance in terms of spending more time with family members, it creates the disadvantage of not being able to meet new people and finally, gig workers try to establish work-life balance by acting disciplined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gig platforms promise attractive, flexible ways to earn supplemental income. Academics, however, often describe gig work as low-quality work, suggesting that it is less satisfying than conventional work. In this paper, we present a novel comparison of satisfaction with gig microtask work and conventional work among MTurk workers doing both. We also examine how satisfaction with gig and conventional work relate to life satisfaction. On average, respondents report less satisfaction with microtasks than with conventional work. Nevertheless, roughly one-third of respondents are more satisfied with microtask work. Furthermore, microtask work lowers overall life satisfaction, but only among "platform dependent" respondents (those who rely on platform income). Specifically, structural equation modeling reveals a case of moderated mediation: "platform dependence" reduces life satisfaction by lowering satisfaction with microtask work while also strengthening the latter's connection to life satisfaction. Taken together, our findings support and extend the theory of platform dependence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]