Flexibility, instability, and the role of networks: Comparison of the work conditions of the designer entrepreneurs and the designers on online crowdwork platforms

Aligned with the shift to knowledge economy over the world, new jobs are emerging. While this is more apparent in some sectors, such as the ones directly related to technology, in almost all professional groups, information revolution and knowledge economy have an impact on work practices. This research explores the experiences of a high-skilled professional group, industrial designers, who increasingly prefer autonomous work over in-house positions in corporate companies in this changing employment environment. We focus on two groups of designers, first, who have established their own micro-businesses, where they carry out the design, production, and marketing stages of their products, and second, who take design projects on online crowdwork platforms since both types of work are becoming popular among designers in the last few years. Our analysis will present a comparison of these two types of work with respect to three issues, which are (1) the flexibility provided to the designers, (2) the problem of continuity and stability in income, and (3) the importance of individual network both at the beginning of the work and the following stages. Comparing the accounts of designers from both groups, we will discuss how work conditions are transformed by the new work practices and relations within these work settings.