In urban gig economies around the world, platform labour is predominantly migrant labour, yet research on the intersection of the gig economy and labour migration remains scant. Our experience with two action research projects, spanning six cities on four continents, has taught us how platform work impacts the structural vulnerability of migrant workers. This leads us to two claims that should recalibrate the gig economy research agenda. First, we argue that platform labour simultaneously degrades working conditions while offering migrants much-needed opportunities to improve their livelihoods. Second, we contend that the reclassification of gig workers as employees is by itself not sufficient to counter the precarisation of migrant gig work. Instead, we need ambitious policies at the intersection of immigration, social welfare, and employment regulation that push back against the digitally mediated commodification of migrant labour worldwide.

在世界各地的城市零工经济中，平台劳动力主要是移民劳动力，但对零工经济与劳动力移民交叉点的研究仍然很少。我们在跨越四大洲六个城市的两个行动研究项目的经验告诉我们，平台工作如何影响农民工的结构性脆弱性。这让我们提出了两项​​应该重新调整零工经济研究议程的主张。首先，我们认为平台劳工在为移民提供急需的改善生计的机会的同时，也降低了工作条件。其次，我们认为，将零工工人重新分类为雇员本身并不足以应对农民工零工工作的不稳定。相反，我们需要在移民、社会福利和就业监管的交叉点上制定雄心勃勃的政策，以抵制全球范围内以数字为媒介的移民劳动力的商品化。