Crowd Work in a Nordic Welfare State

In crowd work (Brabham 2013; Sundarajan 2016) the commissioner/employer and the worker/employee typically interact only via the digital platform. Owners of the platform include dedicated platform companies or, for example, large enterprises that use their own platforms as a means of acquiring new ideas to product and service development. Revenue models and basis for compensation of performed work tasks differ greatly. The regulatory framework that steers the operation of the platforms is usually weak or vague.

This paper presents challenges when crowd work is introduced in a regulated Nordic welfare state, Finland. The key ideas and structures of the welfare state are presented first, followed by pressures to introduce new work forms. Next, pros and cons of crowd work are outlined. We then summarize the current research on crowd work from the worker’s perspective, with a specific focus on microtasking. The paper concludes by suggesting topics for research.