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Manufacturing workers or platform gig workers? The impact of digital transformation in manufacturing and service sectors on job quality and labor allocation

Year: 2025
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: The paper addresses a research gap by exploring the impact of digital transformation in manufacturing and service sectors on job quality and labor allocation across industries. Using data from the China Labor-force Dynamic Survey (CLDS) and the China Employer-Employee Matching Survey (CEEMS), the paper reveals that manufacturing and service sectors’ digital transformation leads to a decline in manufacturing workers and a rise in platform gig workers. The mechanisms lie in the distinctions in job quality across these two industries stemming from their digital transformation development stages and operation modes. Specifically, manufacturing digital transformation (centered on automation and the Industrial Internet of Things), requiring large scale investments but returning slow, fails to sufficiently improve job quality in manufacturing, with lower wages and job autonomy, and limited satisfaction, leading to manufacturing labor shortage. By comparison, digital transformation in the service sector (marked by digital platforms) which has reduced investment and rapid returns bringing high motivation to service enterprises, significantly upgrades gig workers’ job quality, with higher wages, job autonomy and satisfaction, thereby promoting gig workers’ expansion. The findings provide empirical evidence on inter-industry labor allocation, and the phenomenon of manufacturing labor shortage and gig economy boom in the context of digital transformation.
DOI: 10.1016/j.jdec.2025.06.003
Authors: Qing Guo, Xuan Liu, Shanshan Li
Language: English
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $500
OpenAlex ID: W4411507772
FWCI: 7.222
Cites: 44
Cited by: 4
Related to: 10