Foundation: Mapping of Civil Society Demands for Platform Workers
The Client is a European foundation with a focus on democracy and human rights. Their work spans policy research, analysis, and advocacy across the institutions and member states of the EU.
In 2022, platform work accounted for around 11% of the EU workforce. Workers on delivery, transport, and similar platforms exchange labour for payment through an intermediary app, but are typically classified by platforms as independent contractors rather than employees. That classification has material consequences: it has left many workers without access to fair wages, social insurance, or paid leave, and the question of how to address it has become one of the more contested areas of EU labour policy.
The European foundation commissioned AWO to map stakeholder policy positions on platform work and provide strategic recommendations to inform the client's advocacy.
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Stakeholder mapping
AWO's strategic research and insight team conducted research and interviews across dozens of stakeholders drawn from industry, trade unions, workers' associations, and civil society – covering five policy areas: employment status, access to social protections, working conditions, automated decision-making, and collective bargaining.
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Convergence analysis
The research identified where stakeholder positions aligned and where they diverged, providing the client with a clear picture of the political terrain ahead of any engagement or campaigning activity.
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Strategic recommendations
The final report set out recommendations directly tied to the client's policy objectives, grounded in the patterns of agreement and disagreement identified through the research.
Platform work regulation has been a live and contested issue at EU level, with the Platform Work Directive the subject of extended negotiation between the Commission, Parliament, and Council. Research of this kind gives advocacy organisations a more reliable basis for deciding where and how to engage.
