In this report, virtual work is defined as paid labour that is carried out and/or managed using a combination of digital and telecommunication technologies and can broadly be divided into three categories: telework, crowd work and emerging virtual occupations.
Although virtual work is difficult to measure and delineate from other forms of work and online activities, there is some evidence that it is a growing phenomenon. Crowd work in particular is growing rapidly. Virtual workers work across many sectors and occupations.
In Estonia, the percentage of people doing telework is slightly higher than the European average. However, there is no reliable data about the number of people involved in crowd work and hidden online occupations in Estonia.
The core characteristics of virtual work can be described in relation to pre-existing labour market trends that involve:
The growth of atypical work: virtual work creates new job opportunities but also contributes to the growth of atypical work and the dissolution of the standard model of work – a development that leaves a growing number of workers with little to no access to standard employment rights and benefits.
The individualisation of risks: virtual work contributes to a trend in which the costs of work and economic risks (that were traditionally borne by businesses) are increasingly borne by individual workers. Thus virtual work is moving towards a future that involves income instability and less secure but flexible forms of work.
The internalisation of external risks: virtual workers are under pressure to treat their working life as a project that they must manage and invest in. This can lead to work intensification, increased levels of stress and a poor work-life balance.
These trends entail risks but also opportunities depending on the national context and on how the change is managed. There are a range of policies, guidelines and agreements at the European, national, sectoral and organisational level in place that aim at promoting and regulating telework. Despite some emerging agreements and self-regulatory initiatives, there is still considerable uncertainty among policy makers on how to respond to crowd work. Policy discussions on hidden online occupations are rare.
Author: Dr Kaire Holts, University of Hertfordshire
An independent think tank at the Riigikogu 
