Economia platformelor în Uniunea Europeană și perspective asupra muncii

Abstract

The rising “power of the digital” through the role played by companies operating using platforms leads
to the arrival of new debate topics such as “platform economy” or even “platform capitalism”. Finding a
common point in these debates is perceived as a challenge: mainly, it is about keeping open the possibility
of a continuous review of rules governing this sector by the responsible actors. Based on this, we look upon
what are the implications for the platform economy when it comes to the meaning of work and occupational
diversity. There is no singular answer to this question. Previous research showed that resignification of
work is a common characteristic for a variety of time periods. The informational society led to associating
new occupational identities to classes that continue to coexist with those inherited from previous times.
Technological evolution has made possible a spatial distance within work relationships, with clearly
organised exchanges owing to platforms. Companies such as Uber, Deliveroo, Amazon, Google, Facebook,
Airbnb try to optimise customer experience, but they slowly become recognized in discourses underlining
conflicts between the company, its employees or even public authorities. When it comes to the governance
of the platform economy, the European Union is still testing a suitable approach. The degree to which
platform economy companies shall be governed is a complex subject especially due to the large variety of
such platforms, one example being e-commerce and the European Union perspective upon it. Technology
also facilitates the negotiating institutional power of platform employees. Consequently, collective actions
of platform economy employees at both European and global level can be identified.