Prelims

Half Title Page

Reshaping the Future

Title Page

Reshaping the Future: The Phenomenon of Gig Workers and Knowledge Economy

BY

SEDIGHEH MOGHAVVEMI

University of Malaya, Malaysia

LEE SU TENG

University of Malaya, Malaysia

AND

HUDA MAHMOUD

University of Malaya, Malaysia

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China

Copyright Page

Emerald Publishing Limited

Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, UK

First edition 2023

Copyright © 2023 Sedigheh Moghavvemi, Lee Su Teng, and Huda Mahmoud. Published under exclusive license by Emerald Publishing Limited.

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-83753-351-0 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-83753-350-3 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-83753-352-7 (Epub)

Contents

About the Authors

Sedigheh Moghavvemi is an Associate Professor of Technology Management and Entrepreneurship at the Faculty of Business & Economics at the Universiti Malaya. Her work has circulated internationally. Her research experience includes business and management, technological capability in IR4.0, technology adoption, innovation management, smart tourism, and social media. She worked on different research and consultancies on entrepreneurship, marketing, and human resource, and the results were published in peer-reviewed journals.

Lee Su Teng, PhD has both academic and industrial experience. Her broad experience includes hands-on involvement in managing the full spectrum of HR, working with the human resources information systems, spearheading HR business contingency plans, and being the HR representative for an acquisition exercise. She has now moved on to her academic career with the Faculty of Business and Economics, Universiti Malaya, Malaysia where she teaches human resources.

Huda Mahmoud is a Researcher with a Master's in Public Policy and Management (MPP). She has experience in various social policy and gender-centric research. She has edited several publications and is currently active in maritime research.

Corresponding author: Lee Su Teng

Preface

The rise of the gig economy has resulted in a new set of work expectations and attitudes. The growth of online labour platforms and the gig economy in low-income countries is viewed as an enabler of a new wave of online outsourcing, thus resulting in employment growth and poverty reduction (The Rockefeller Foundation, 2013; UNDP, 2016; World Bank, 2016).

Policy-makers and digital leaders should consider: how to prepare the workforce to produce knowledge, perform, and transform the country into a knowledge hub via gig workers and transform the economy into a knowledge economy and a destination for national and international clients looking for professional workers. This estimate is based on the growing number of gig workers and digital platforms worldwide.

Companies use freelancers for business activities such as customer support, learning and development, corporate website development, and support; however, most companies now prefer to have only a couple of regular employees in those functions and outsource the rest of the work to external experts.

Acknowledgement

This research is supported by Universiti Malaya Special Grant: Book Publication (SG009-19SAH).