Motivation of Freelance Employees in the Gig Economy in Turkey

In the current industrial and organizational psychology literature, predominantly salaried, paid, permanent and full-time workers in a given workplace and in a given time period are represented. However, in recent years, it has been observed that new forms of self-employment have emerged on digital labor platforms and their numbers have increased gradually. This article explores the push/pull motivations for working in the gig economy, drawing on previous research on entrepreneurial motivation, a field associated with self-employment. In this study, mixed method was used as data collection technique. In the quantitative stage of the research, a questionnaire was conducted with 117 people, and in the qualitative stage, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 people. Survey data in the SPSS 20.0 program, qualitative data were analyzed descriptively. As a result, it was understood that the most prominent motivation factors of freelancers are independence, success motivation and flexibility. The gig economy offers workers the opportunity to work flexibly by allowing them to organize their own work schedules and control their labor processes, as opposed to optimistic portrayals of a flexible economy. In addition, it is seen that freelancers feel free from friendship relations and feel excluded and isolated from other people.