Investigating the primary factors of work happiness in gig workers
| Date | 09 July 2024 |
| Pages | 1112-1140 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-07-2023-0369 |
| Published date | 09 July 2024 |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Industrial/labour relations,Employment law |
| Author | Anjali Tiwari,Saleena Khan,Renju Chandran,Alok Tewari |
Investigating the primary factors of
work happiness in gig workers
Anjali Tiwari
Jaipuria Institute of Management Lucknow, Lucknow, India
Saleena Khan
IMT Nagpur, Nagpur, India
Renju Chandran
Chinmaya Vishwavidyapeeth Deemed to be University, Kochi, India, and
Alok Tewari
School of Management, Babu Banarasi Das University, Lucknow, India
Abstract
Purpose –This study dwells into the crucial aspects of gig workers’jobs that are absent, with specific focus on
the work life of food delivery workers (FDWs) and how it impacts their work happiness.
Design/methodology/approach–To create a conceptual model, 21 delivery workers were first interviewed,
and the data gathered were scrutinized. Subsequently, a questionnaire was sent to 493 delivery partners,
probing about their opinions of work factors that could affect their level of happiness. The collected data were
put to study by the authors using AMOS and SPSS.
Findings –Five missing work components were revealed by qualitative investigation. The absence of voice,
recognition, career growth, work satisfaction, and dignity at work contributed to unhappiness of the workers.
The qualitative analysis was supported by quantitative findings. Additionally, company policy moderated the
relationship between absence of voice, absence of career growth, absence of job satisfaction and absence of
work happiness.
Originality/value –To the best of the authors’knowledge, this is one of the first studies using a mixed-
method approach to identify factors contributing to the unhappiness of FDWsin work. The originality of this
study also lies in establishing the moderating influence of company policy on the relationship between the
absence of voice, absence of career growth, absence of work satisfaction and absence of workplace happiness
among the workers.
Keywords Gig workers, Food delivery workers (FDW), Absence of work happiness, Moderation
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
In the wake of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the restaurant industry experienced
significant financial set backs, resulting in subst antial economic losses, wi th an estimated
global decline of approximately $240bn in revenue in 2020 (National Restaurant
Association, 2020). This crisis prompted a substantial transformation within the
industry, compelling many res taurants that persevered to reco nfigure their business
strategies to endure the new challenges. Specifically, they sought to address the shifting
landscape by incorporating on line food delivery (OFD) services to sustain their operati ons
(Brewer and Sebby, 2021). Foo d delivery falls under a plat form work sector, which is
undergoing rapid expansion (Griesbach et al., 2019). Platform-b ased gig workers are those
who engage in work through onl ine platforms. In contrast, non-platform- based gig workers
typically find employment t hrough traditional retail est ablishments, earn irregu lar or
hourly wages, or are self-emp loyed on either a full-time or p art-time basis (NITI Aayog’s,
2022). Meituan and Eleme, a Chine se food delivery business, em ploys 1.17 million food
delivery workers (Li et al., 2020). Swiggy in India employs 2.7 lak h delivery individuals
(Sharma, 2023), while around 10,000 employees wor k for Uber Eats in the United Stat es
(Uber eats competitors, 20 20).
ER
46,5
1112
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/0142-5455.htm
Received 24 July 2023
Revised 29 November 2023
28 February 2024
29 May 2024
Accepted 7 June 2024
Employee Relations: The
International Journal
Vol. 46 No. 5, 2024
pp. 1112-1140
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0142-5455
DOI 10.1108/ER-07-2023-0369
FDWs play a crucial exchange relation with the platform, consumers and restaurant. Food
delivery services under the sharing economy require FDWs to represent online food delivery
platforms, restaurants and customers (Chen et al., 2019;Su et al., 2022). That explains that
FDWs are key stakeholders in the above-mentioned exchange relations. Thus, FDWs’job
experience and satisfaction affect customer satisfaction and restaurants’desire to use these
platforms (Hung and Chen, 2013). Figure 1 presents the strategic role that FDWs plays in
different relationships.
Some of the key characteristics of FDW’s work are riding bicycles or motorbikes to wait in
the delivery area for orders, exposing them to pollution (Liu et al., 2020;Correa et al., 2019).
They are also required to be online for long duration and work overtime for extra money or
incentives without career stability (Vaidyanathan, 2020). Higher living expenditures and
lower commissions (Kaine and Josserand, 2019), unpredictable working hours, no insurance,
unstable income, no sick days, harsh work life, unfair competition and job uncertainty also
hurt these people (Sodhi, 2021). Additionally, they are obligated to remain online for extended
periods and work overtime to earn extra money or incentives, all while lacking career stability
(Macias et al., 2023;Shroff et al., 2022;Food Delivery People Wish, 2020;Kelly, 2017;Warhurst
et al., 2012). Vehicle issues (Correa et al., 2019;Liu et al., 2020), technology adoption and
acceptance in food delivery apps (Pigatto et al., 2017;Roh and Park, 2019;Gunden et al., 2020),
and riders’wages and well-being (Bates et al., 2021;Correa et al., 2019;Mendonça and
Kougiannou, 2022) are also few essential characteristics of FDWs work.
Based on the concerns as mentioned above on exchange relationship, it is evident that food
delivery workers (FDWs) are not being properly recognized for their contributions. As a
result, FDWs rarely feel equality in this relationship, which ultimately reduces their overall
happiness. To fully understand this exchange relationship, examining it using two important
theories: social exchange theory (SET) and equity theory proved vital. By applying these
theories, we can explore how resource exchange, fairness perceptions, motivation and work
happiness affect the work life of food delivery workers.
Previous researchers like Bates et al. (2021) and Behl et al. (2022), generally discussed
several characteristics, features, conditions and relations with happiness. A number of other
factors, however, play a crucial role in improving the happiness of FDWs, although scholars
could not find a detailed description of it. Hence, this research’s primary aim is to identify the
Figure 1.
Exchange relationship
of FDWs with other
key stakeholders
Employee
Relations: The
International
Journal
1113
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