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Overview

Gig work, sometimes called platform work, is ‘work where an individual uses a digital ‘platform’ provided by a company, accessed via an ‘app’ or a website, to find and perform short-term jobs’.

Despite much interest there remain considerable gaps in knowledge about the numbers employed in gig work, and the outcomes associated with it in terms of pay and working conditions.

This report and policy briefing provide current evidence on pay and conditions in gig work in the UK and outlines current policy and regulatory issues around gig work. It finds that gig work is growing in importance in the UK and is characterised by high levels of precarity and disadvantage compared to other forms of work.

They also present current evidence on pay and conditions in other precarious forms of work in the UK, notably temporary agency employment, temporary work, zero hours contracts and self-employment, with which gig work shares many features. In the final part of the briefing, 12 policy recommendations around gig work and other precarious forms of employment in the UK are set out.

Key findings

1. Pay and conditions in gig work 

• Just under half a million people (464,000) in a labour force of over 32.5 million worked in platform-based gig work in 2022. By this measure, derived from the Labour Force Survey, gig workers constituted 1.4% of total employment. Gig workers are concentrated in taxi driving, food delivery and courier services, although significant numbers are in desk-based services.

• Low pay and insecure income are widespread in gig work in the UK. The task-based nature of work allocation and payment means that gig workers have unpredictable earnings. In location-based gig work, such as taxi-driving, couriers and food delivery, time between deliveries is generally unpaid.

• Annual earnings from gig work in the UK are relatively low, and up to ¼ of gig workers are paid below the minimum wage.

• Few gig workers in the UK (between 10-30% depending on estimates) see gig work as their main source of income.

• Gig workers have more limited access to social protections This is due in part to the contract status of many gig workers (being classed as self-employed rather than workers or employees). However, for some rights and protections, this more limited access is due to the relatively small numbers of weekly of hours worked and low income earned by gig workers, and the variability of their income.

2. The legal context of gig work

• There is considerable ambiguity over the contract status of gig workers.

• A number of legal judgements have ruled that gig workers in the UK are ‘workers’, whereas others have determined that that gig workers are self-employed contractors.

• Employment rights in the UK and access to social protections vary markedly dependent upon whether someone is on a contract as an employee, a worker or self-employed.

• ‘Theoretical’ access to employment rights for gig workers – as employees, workers or self-employed – does not necessarily mean access in practice. Income uncertainly, gaps between jobs, and low pay may limit access of gig workers to particular employment rights and protection that are based on particular income levels.

3. Pay and conditions in other precarious forms of work

• In 2023, 1.6 million workers were employed in the UK on temporary contracts, equating to 4.1% of the employed workforce, including 250,000 workers on temporary agency contracts. Migrant workers, BAME workers, and young workers are all over-represented in temporary and agency working.

• 1.2 million workers were employed on zero-hours contracts in the UK in 2023, a figure which equates to 4% of the workforce. ZHCs have become more widespread in the UK over the last 15 years, particularly in social care, hospitality, retail and education.

• 4.1 million workers were self-employed in 2023 (14% of the workforce).

• Pay levels, are on average, lower for each of these forms of precarious work, compared to directly employed contracts. As with gig/platform work, workers in these forms of work face a pay penalty compared to direct employed contracts.

• Overlap between these precarious forms of work, and gig work is widespread, with, for example, many platform jobs being undertaken on a self-employed basis or on a temporary basis.

• We estimate that between 20-25% of the UK workforce in total are employed in gig/platform work, self-employment, temporary work, agency work and zero-hours contracts.

Key recommendations

- Improve pay and conditions in gig work.

- Improve conditions in other precarious forms of work in the UK.

- Gather evidence and data on gig work and precarious work in the UK.