Managing Occupational Balance in Platform and Remote Work
Sub-Theme: Exploring New Configurations of Work and Mobility
Projects under this sub-theme explore how ADTs are reshaping migration, work and mobility. They examine both opportunities, such as remote work and digital nomadism, and risks tied to precarious platform-based employment.
Objective
It is important to understand how workers, and immigrant workers in particular, are represented within discourses on the platform economy, given their potentially marginalized position in Canadian society and gig work more broadly.
This project examines discourses on gig work and investigates the experiences of immigrants engaged in different facets of the platform economy, as well as those employed in remote work.
The focus is on the everyday occupational experiences of immigrant platform workers, exploring how they perceive and navigate non-traditional forms of employment and daily routines, and situating these experiences within broader contemporary discourses on gig work.
Research questions
- What are the discourses shaping the platform economy?
- What contextual factors shape the occupational experiences of immigrant workers within the platform economy?
- How does engaging in platform and/or remote work reconfigure traditional borders and boundaries in immigrants' lives?
- In what ways do platform and/or remote workers nagivate "occupational balance" among the differeent revenue-generating occupations they engage in?
Methodology
This project will conduct a critical discourse analysis to identify dominant themes and subjectivities constructed through relevant texts. Next, a series of interviews will be conducted with immigrant platform/remote workers from across Canada.
Status
The project is in progress, with multiple publications underway and interviews with gig workers currently being conducted.
Expected completion date: September 2026
Outcomes
Publications:
Jackson, S., & Huot, S. (2025). Working from (a New) Home: Tensions Faced by Remote Working Immigrants in Canada. Societies, 15(10), 271. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc15100271 (external link)
Past events and presentations:
- “Uneven development in the digital economy: The new landscape of transnational social protections”, presented by María Cervantes, 4th Annual Digital Geographies Conference, Lisbon, Portugal, November 2025
- “Immigrants’ engagement in remote and gig work occupations: Critically examining the spatial transformation of the ‘workplace’ through a mobilities lens”, presented by Suzanne Huot, María Cervantes, and Samantha Jackson, Occupational Science Europe Conference, Essex, United Kingdom, August 2025
- “Uneven development in the digital economy: The new landscape of transnational social protections”, presented by María Cervantes, Royal Geographical Society–IBG Annual International Conference 2025, Birmingham, United Kingdom, August 2025
- “Immigrants’ occupational experiences of remote and hybrid work in Canada”, presented by K. Kiaulakyte, K. Krywulak, S. Soreal, S. Jackson, and S. Huot, Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists Conference, Edmonton, Canada, May 2025
“Uneven development in the digital economy: The new landscape of transnational social protections”, presented by María Cervantes, American Association of Geographers Conference, Detroit, United States, March 2025
Keywords
Gig economy; immigrant work; occupational balance; platform economy; remote work
