Will Gig Work Hurt My Future Career Prospects?

Given the proliferation of the platform economy, many people take on gig employment as either their primary source of work or as a way to supplement their income.  However, relatively little is known about the potential impact of gig work on jobseekers’ future career trajectories.   On the one hand, it is possible that work in the gig economy may allow workers to develop wider skill sets and demonstrate desirable characteristics such as creativity or ambition.  On the other hand, employers may be suspicious of jobseekers with gig work histories, assuming such persons to lack focus, skill or relevant experience.

In this study we attempt to gain some preliminary understanding of the potential role of gig work in shaping career trajectories by exploring the employment-related signals associated with gig work.  To do this, we conducted two survey experiments that simulate the hiring decisions of fictitious job seekers with gig and non-gig work histories in several job contexts.

Specifically, we examine jobseekers with non-gig work employment only, gig work only as their most recent employment and jobseekers with a mixture of non-gig employment along with a gig work side hustle. We explore both lower-skill (delivery driver) and higher-skill (retail manager, graphic designer) job contexts.

We find that for the lower-skill job, gig work experience is not perceived as inferior, nor does it impede employment prospects in the traditional labour market.  For higher skilled jobs, however, candidates who worked exclusively in the gig economy as their most recent work experience were perceived less desirable than those with non-gig work experiences as well as those who maintained a gig side-hustle in conjunction with more traditional employment.

For skilled jobseekers who are concerned about their future career prospects, our results suggest maintaining a foot in traditional employment.  For employers, as atypical employment becomes increasingly common, our study encourages organizations to examine the lens through which they evaluate prospective job candidates and to gain greater familiarity with the gig economy so as to better assess the diverse experiences of jobseekers.Song, F., Lamb, D., & Soltanzadeh, K. (2025). What Happens When the Gig Is Up? The Relationship Between Gig Work Histories and Future Career Prospects (external link, opens in new window) . British Journal of Industrial Relations, DOI: 10.1111/bjir.12875.