Platform Work Using Mobile Applications as a Manifestation of Fragmentation of Work

Abstract

The growth of platform work globally and in Poland is the evidence of the changing nature of work. Mobile applications are one of the tools that drive this growth. Digitisation and digitalisation contributed to the fragmentation of a variety of jobs and their flexible distribution between different contractors. The universal use of mobile applications by platform workers attests to the efforts made by platforms to reduce average costs, but it may also be an indirect measure of the fragmentation of work. The article aims to demonstrate the popularity of mobile applications as platform work support tools. The conclusions are based on the findings of the author’s own diagnostic survey conducted on a representative sample of Polish residents. The sample allowed for the identification of those working via digital platforms so that their use of mobile phone applications could be analysed. The study showed, inter alia, that almost 60% of respondents performing platform mediated tasks always or very often used mobile applications.