IMPORTANCE OF THE PHENOMENON

There are no official statistics regarding the gig economy in Spain. However, at least three different documents can be consulted in relation to this phenomenon and its impact in Spain. All three works underline the high participation in gig economy in Spain. According Digital Labour Platforms in Europe, the UK has the largest proportion of platform workers who do it as their main job (3.6%), followed by the Netherlands (2.8%) and Spain (2.7%). Nevertheless, adjusted estimates (adjusted for high frequency Internet use) show that Spain leads the range (12.5% in Spain). There is a fourth report, but only referred to Catalonia, interesting as it also confirms the data of the previously mentioned ones and adds some relevant information.

Some remarkable figures can be drawn from the Huella Digital research. The first is related to gender, as it shows that women are less involved in platform work (22.4% compared to 32.5% men out of the global working age population), but women are more likely to have a platform job as their only source of income (11.5%) than men (8.1%). The second is related to the age of platform workers. Platform workers can be found in any age group (the report only takes into account people from 16 to 65 years of age), but the percentage of platform workers is higher among young people: 21.5% between 16 and 24 years of age; 25.7% between 25 and 34 years of age; 22.7% between 35 and 44 years of age; 17.7% between 45 and 54 years of age; and 12.5% between 55 and 65 years of age.

Finally, the data this report offers related to the activities carried out throughout platform apps is interesting, showing that platform workers generally do more than one activity through apps, as well as the wide range of activities performed by platform workers who provide services at least once a week:

• – 40.4%: office work (short tasks, click-work)

• – 35.4%: more qualified tasks (design, edition, software development, translation)

• – 33.9%: routine tasks in the office in somebody’s else premises

• – 31.4% some occasional jobs in private houses (plumbers, electricians, etc.)

• – 30.5%: regular task in private houses (cleaning, gardening, etc.)