Equilibrating the Exchange: Disintermediation in Triadic Labor Markets of the Remote Gig Economy

• In Event: 50220 - Section on Organizations, Occupations, and Work Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 12: Transgressions and Boundaries

Abstract

This multi-method study examines the factors influencing workers’ disintermediation behaviors—efforts to circumvent labor market intermediaries and engage directly with employers—within triadic labor markets of the remote gig economy. Using complementary qualitative and quantitative data from two of the largest global digital labor market intermediary (DLMI) organizations, the study identifies disintermediation as a strategic response by workers to recalibrate power dynamics in the face of unbalanced exchange relationships with DLMIs. Unbalanced exchanges, amplifying the inherent power inequalities in worker-DLMI relationships, arise from workers' perception of DLMIs as violating their perceived reciprocal agreements. These agreements involve workers accepting their vulnerability to DLMIs’ control over their employment opportunities, forming a psychological contract of perceived reciprocal obligations. Violations of these agreements by DLMIs lead to organizational distrust and psychological contract breaches, prompting workers—regardless of their dependence on DLMIs—to leverage relational power from their connections with employers and thus engage in disintermediation to mitigate their powerlessness, equilibrating their perceived exchange relationships with DLMIs. Contrary to the dominant discourses, which emphasize dependence as the point of departure for understanding the dynamics and outcomes of worker-organization relationships in the gig economy, this study posits that an exchange-based view of the relationships offers a rather more nuanced and comprehensive perspective. Highlighting organizational variations in the exchange relationships, the study further sheds light on the embeddedness and subjectivity of remote gig workers.

Author

• Ayaj Rana, Cornell University