디지털 노동자의 고용 관계와 계층화: 알고리즘과 데이터의 역할을 중심으로

Complementing prior research that has primarily focused on the precarity of platform workers, we aimed at developing a deeper understanding of who we termed ‘digital workers’ who engage in the production process of digital platform services. To do so, we draw on qualitative and quantitative data of digital workers in the transportation industry in South Korea which has undergone a rapid shift to the platform economy. Our findings show that digital workers can be classified into three distinct groups based on their role in the circulation of algorithm and data throughout platform services: core, peripheral and boundary digital workers. While core digital workers design and develop an algorithm that shapes the labor process of the boundary workers, the latter produce data that the former use to improve the algorithm. The peripheral digital workers play an intermediary role in the circulation of data and algorithm. Further, we highlight the nature of stratification which has been emerging among digital workers in terms of wage and labor market transitions. We discuss the theoretical and practical implication of our findings.