Free agents concepts: independent workers in the context of digitalization of employment

Widespread digitalization has led to changes in the employment sector, affecting the increase in its digital segment. Some of its employees work independently with different customers, being distinguished by their autonomy and high level of selforganization in their activity. It is established that in the scientific literature, such self-employed workers are usually classified as precariat (a community of socially unsettled workers) due to chronic instability and risks in their work.

D. Pink’s extraordinary concept of free agents offers a different view of self-employed autonomous workers. The key ideas of the expert concerning the definition and categories of these independent workers, the reasons that have strengthened their role in the modern economy, the fundamental values characteristic of independent workers, as well as the features and challenges of the professional activity of free agents are presented and critically analyzed. The provisions of D. Pink are illustrated using data collected by the method of individual semi-formal interviews with independent employees (n = 12). The research paper concludes that the consideration of free agents requires a more critical and balanced approach, considering the difficulties and risks associated with their activities identified by the interview results, since D. Pink focuses more on the positive aspects of the phenomenon under consideration.

The research paper is relevant due to the ongoing institutionalization of digital forms of employment in Russia and the growing number of workers employed in this way, some of whom are identical to free agents, and may be useful for further research of independent workers, as well as for forming policies and strategies to support them.

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