Character of Austria’s ‘Gig Economy’ revealed for the first time

It is generally known that online platforms such as Uber (for driving work), My Hammer (for household chores) and Upwork (for creative or IT work) are booming. But so far little has been known about who is doing this kind of work, with research confined to particular platforms. Now, a new report reveals for the first time the profile of Austrian crowd workers across the whole economy.

The University of Hertfordshire and Ipsos MORI, in association with the FEPS, UNI-Europa and AK Wien carried out a survey that, for the first time, shows the characteristics of Austria’s ‘gig economy’. The Austrian survey is the most recent in a series of surveys already covering three European countries, with others expected to follow.

In an online survey of 2,003 Austrian adults aged 18-65, 36% (724) said they have tried to find work managed via so-called ‘sharing economy’ platforms such as Upwork, Uber or Handy during the past year (Fig.1). But only half of these, 18% (352), actually managed to find such work at least once a year.

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