Call for Papers
Special Issue of Journal of Managerial Psychology
"Tensions between platform success and gig worker well-being"
Submission Deadline: September 30, 2025
The Journal of Managerial Psychology invites submissions exploring the tensions between platform success and gig worker well-being particularly given the rise of AI and AI Management.
Background, Aims and Scope of the Special Issue
Considerable scholarly attention has examined how the gig economy has disrupted our traditional understanding of work, including its implications for work-life balance and worker well-being (c.f. Ray, Sengupta & Varma, 2024, Todolí-Signes, 2017). In the past decade there has been a fivefold increase in the number of digital labor platforms (Rani et al. 2021), a trend which accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic (BLS, 2022). While most gig work provides secondary income (see Huws, Spencer & Coates, 2019), for a growing number of people it provides their main source of income.
The rise of AI and algorithmic management pose significant concerns for worker well-being that are particularly pressing in the context of gig work. Duggan and colleagues (2020) define algorithmic management as 'a system of control where self-learning algorithms are given the responsibility for making and executing decisions affecting labor, thereby limiting human involvement and oversight of the labor process' (p. 119). Many studies have found that algorithmic management reduces the burden on human resources and administrative systems, including tasks like scheduling, performance appraisal, and termination, enabling businesses to cut costs (Parker, Van Alstyne & Choudary, 2016). Many scholars, however, remain skeptical of these emerging technologies and their impact on the health, wellness, and productivity of gig workers (Duggan, Sherman, Carbery & McDonnell, 2020). Recent research has demonstrated the double-edged nature of adopting these technologies for workforce management. For example, AI management can increase firm productivity and performance but simultaneously pose potential challenges to worker well-being (Liang, Peng, Hong & Gu, 2022; Meijerink & Keegan, 2019, Ray et al 2024a, Ray, Verma, Kumar & Gautam, 2024).
Research on the impact of the gig economy on employee well-being has been mixed. Gig labor is related with favorable well-being outcomes (Van der Zwan, Hessels & Burger (2020) and can offer security during financial hardship or while pursuing longer-term career aspirations (Myhill, Richards & Sang, 2023). Gig employment influences individuals' ability to balance their job and personal lives, as well as their general state of well-being and happiness (Klein, Klunover & Shavit, 2024; Ray, Verma, Kumar & Gautam, 2024). Self-employed workers are happier than salaried ones (Warr, 2018), and the increased autonomy and flexibility that gig workers experience results in higher satisfaction (Jabagi, Croteau, Audebrand & Marsan, 2019; Lepanjuuri, Wishart & Cornick, 2018). However, gig work also involves greater job insecurity (Darvishmotevali & Ali, 2020), income volatility (Myhill et al., 2023), and higher anxiety, thereby adversely affecting gig workers' overall well-being and happiness (Berger et al., 2019). Cropanzano and colleagues (2023) focus on how platform structure affects the psychological contract between gig workers and employing organizations. For many gig workers, the new psychological contract between gig workers and the platform is managed through algorithmic management which impacts gig worker cynicism and trust (Saksida, Maffie, Mihelič, Culiberg & Merkuž, 2024).
The impact of AI monitoring and AI control on overall well-being further complicates these dynamics. AI-driven management and gig worker perceptions of being managed by AI can provide positive challenges and increase motivation for gig workers (Cram, Wiener, Tarafdar & Benlian, 2022; McDonnell, Carbery, Burgess & Sherman, 2023). Peng et al. (2024) found that different types of algorithmic management-such as evaluation and discipline versus direction-can have either positive or negative effects on burnout. These findings raise the question of whether transparency and consistency inherent in AI management could be leveraged to reduce stress and uncertainty for gig workers.
List of topic areas
In this Journal of Managerial Psychology special issue, we welcome papers exploring the tensions between platform success and gig worker well-being particularly given the rise of AI and AI Management. The following call for papers proposes some possible questions to explore these issues:
- Well-being: What is the impact of AI and AI management on gig worker well-being, happiness, work-life balance, performance, and/or attitude?
- Gig work definitions and well-being: Does the type of gig work require different wellness needs? How does the use of AI influence work satisfaction differently in each of these settings?
- Perception: What are the common perceptions of and reactions to AI in the gig economy?
- Identity perceptions: How does AI management impact worker identity in the gig economy?
- Motivation: How (and when) can AI Management positively or negatively impact gig worker motivation? Are there different settings or types of gig work where AI Management helps (or hinders) motivation?
- Commitment and Turnover: How does AI management positively and negatively impact job commitment and turnover intentions?
- Fairness: How does AI management influence perceptions of fairness and compliance?
- The Dark side of Autonomy: Where are the tipping points between perceptions of autonomy, performance and worker well-being? Does AI management mediate these relationships?
- Turnover: Under what circumstances does AI management increase or decrease gig workers' turnover intent?
- Entrepreneurial motivation, identity and opportunity: How are platforms conducive or detrimental to the development of an entrepreneurial identity and perceptions of opportunity? Does AI management influence entrepreneurial motivation?
- Performance and well-being: What practices and policies benefit both workers and platform firm success?
We look forward to your contributions and to advancing this important dialogue on gig worker well-being.
For more details, including submission guidelines, please refer to the full call for papers:
Submission Deadline: September 30, 2025
Publication Date: Expected late 2026
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Tera L. Galloway
University of St. Thomas
St. Paul, MN