Work via online platforms is a growing phenomenon globally, including the Eastern Partnership (EaP) region: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. Various forms of online and platform work have been identified in the six countries and sufficient ground exist to expect that the prevalence of this phenomenon will grow in the near future. Besides being it a global trend, it can be viewed in a broader context of recent developments in the EaP region: digitalisation of economies, emergence and growing popularity of new forms of employment (most notably remote and freelance work), as well as globalisation and labour outsourcing to the EU and America clients. Platform work can be viewed as both, a result and a manifestation of these transformations in the labour markets.
Both, the remote and on-location, high and low complexity platform work exist in all the EaP countries. Similar to the situation in many EU countries, no reliable or comparable information exists to provide a definite answer on the prevalence of different types of platform work in different countries and among different groups of workers. However, our insights from specific platforms, interviews and desk research provide a preliminary indication on the comparative prevalence of platform work. They indicate that the phenomenon is growing markedly and gaining popularity among Azerbaijani, Armenian, Belarusian, Georgian, Moldovan, and Ukrainian workers.
However, the prevalence of platform work differs significantly across the EaP countries. While Ukraine and, to a smaller extent Belarus, are already globally recognised to be among the European leaders in the 'export' of highly qualified platform labour, in Georgia, Azerbaijan and Moldova these forms of employment are still emerging. Interestingly, while Armenia is not recognised as a prominent platform worker's country in the regional interviews, media and earlier research, the numbers of qualified platform workers from the country on the selected platforms indicates a relatively high prevalence of platform work among Armenia freelancers.
You can explore the dashboards below, which show the number of platform workers by country and occupation:
Most evidence of intensive activities exists in the segments of low complexity/low skills on-location services and high complexity /skills web-based services. The most widespread on-location work is ride-hailing, delivery services conducted using mobile apps, as well as various types of repair, cleaning, and similar ancillary work. While Ukraine demonstrates the highest numbers of active international on-location labour platforms, this sector of the online labour economy seems to be currently least developed in Moldova. In all countries, most platforms operate in the capital cities and other largest cities.From the data available, it seems that the work conducted by most EaP workers on the four most popular international English language platforms (Upwork, Freelancer, Guru, and PeoplePerHour) is higher complexity specialist work, such as software development and creative tasks, rather than clerical or micro tasks. The same trend is notable on Russian language Weblancer.net and FreelanceHunt.
You can explore the dashboard below, which shows the most popular occupations:
The growth of high-complexity web-based platform work in the EaP region is driven by the presence of a qualified workforce, as well as demand for these skills around the world. Workers from EaP countries are attractive to European clients due to their geographical and cultural proximity. For USA and Asian clients, they are also attractive because of the difference in time zones: by hiring workforce in this region they can ensure that the work continues 24 hours a day. In addition, international clients appreciate the skills pool, convenience and lower costs of the Eastern European workforce. In this sense, remote platform work is part of the general and increasing trend of outsourcing of highly qualified workers from the EaP region to other regions – both via and outside online labour platforms.
More insights will be soon available in the ETF research report, which provides already a wide background on the new fascinating phenomenon of digital platforms in the Eastern European countries. However, we are aware that our piece of work is not exhaustive and the picture we see so far is only partial.
We are looking forward to exchange further with the Open Space community! Share with us your insights and reflections!
Thanks dear Iwona for this very insightful information! I see platform work exists in EAP countries, as such it can be an OPPORTUNITY for countries, as it provides new working possibilities. But opportunities can be grasped only if workers are equipped with the right SKILLS to (i) enter in the platform economy and 2) remain and be productive within it.
There is really no evidence available for most of the countries where we work. Little is known at the moment also in Europe. I think this research is a fundamental piece of work that can open wide reflections with countries. Thanks!
Very interesting ! Thank you Iwona ! I look forward to reading the report.
thanks Iwona, this is very interesting. I look forward to reading the report too :-)
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