Humans as a Service: The Promise and Perils of Work in the Gig Economy - Hardcover

Prassl, Jeremias

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 019879701X ISBN 13: 9780198797012

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2018

Synopsis

WHAT IF YOUR BOSS WAS AN ALGORITHM?
The gig economy promises to revolutionise work as we know it, offering flexibility and independence instead of 9-to-5 drudgery. The potential benefits are enormous: consumers enjoy the convenience and affordability of on-demand work while micro-entrepreneurs turn to online platforms in search of their next gig, task, or ride.

IS THIS THE FUTURE OF WORK?
This book offers an engaging account of work in the gig economy across the world. Competing narratives abound: on-demand gigs offer entrepreneurial flexibility - or precarious work, strictly controlled by user ratings and algorithmic surveillance. Platforms' sophisticated technology is the product of disruptive innovation - whilst the underlying business model has existed for centuries.

HOW CAN WE PROTECT CONSUMERS & WORKERS WITHOUT STIFLING INNOVATION?
As courts and governments around the world begin to grapple with the gig economy, Humans as a Service explores the challenges of on-demand work, and explains how we can ensure decent working conditions, protect consumers, and foster innovation. Employment law plays a central role in levelling the playing field: gigs, tasks, and rides are work - and should be regulated as such.

About this title

About the Author

Jeremias Prassl, Associate Professor and Fellow of Magdalen College, University of Oxford

Jeremias Prassl is a Fellow of Magdalen College and an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law at Oxford University. He advises public and private sector organisations around the world on regulating the gig economy, and tweets about the future of work @JeremiasPrassl.

Review

"Timely and thought-provoking, Humans as a Service is an important examination of the consequences of an important, disruptive economic development." -- Ray Bert, Civil Engineering

"Whether you agree with him or not, the arguments Jeremias Prassl offers in this book will change the way you think about at work and labor law in a changing economy. It is a brilliant and fascinating book. A triumph." -- David Schleicher, Professor of Law, Yale Law School

"The sudden arrival of the 'gig economy', and its exponential global growth, took both academics and policy-makers by surprise, exposing some regulations as no longer fit for purpose in the volatile conditions of digital global labour markets. Prassl provides us with a magisterial overview, cutting through starry-eyed myths about entrepreneurship, while exposing the realities of work that is managed by algorithms. This is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand not just the inadequacies of current legal frameworks for regulating this runaway new form of work organisation, but also, and more importantly, to do something about it, to create the basis for a sustainable new model of employment protection fit for the 21st century." -- Ursula Huws, Professor of Labour and Globalisation, University of Hertfordshire

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 019879701X
• ISBN 13: 9780198797012
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 208