Bridging the Gap between the Gig Economy and Migration Policy
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Highlights
Gig economy growth has outpaced migration policy. Visa frameworks built for traditional employment leave platform workers without protections or legal pathways, requiring the need to bridge the gap.
- Platform work is growing rapidly but remains invisible to migration systems. Most visa categories require a traditional employer-employee relationship, creating a mismatch between how people work and how governments manage migration.
- Unauthorized immigrants are overrepresented in gig and informal work, using app-based platforms as an accessible income source. This creates regulatory gray areas and leaves workers without labor protections or status-building pathways.
- Digital nomad and self-employment pathways exist in some countries but typically require proof of steady income that gig workers cannot easily demonstrate, limiting their utility for lower-income platform workers.
- Policymakers should update visa frameworks to recognize non-standard employment, establish portability of worker protections, and design status pathways that reflect platform-based work realities for migrants at all income levels.
The gig economy—that is, work or services mediated through digital platforms and generally performed by independent contractors or freelancers—has been a growing fixture of the global economy for more than a decade, expanding considerably during the COVID-19 pandemic. Though data and research are uneven, a growing body of evidence indicates that immigrants are at the heart of this growing sector in many economies worldwide.
As governments have grappled with the meteoric rise of the gig economy, however, migration and migrants have been somewhat of an afterthought. Many governments have focused on how to classify workers, while others have sought to expand eligibility for minimum wages and holiday or sick pay to gig workers. But even where policymakers have sought to think creatively, they have largely overlooked key considerations in the migration policy space.
This policy brief examines government responses around the globe to the rise of the gig economy and migrant employment within it, and how gig economy labor policies and migration policies could be adjusted to benefit migrants, receiving communities, and labor markets. The brief starts with an introduction to the gig economy, who works in it, and some common challenges faced by gig workers of all origins. It then considers key questions at the intersection of gig work and immigration and integration policy, offering recommendations for ongoing policy conversations and future research.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
2 What Is the Gig Economy and How Large Is It?
3 Migrants in the Gig Economy
A. Why Do Migrants Work in the Gig Economy?
B. What Challenges Do Migrant Gig Workers Face?
4 Policy Responses
A. Adapting Immigration Systems to a Changing World of Work
B. Supporting Integration and Upward Mobility
C. Fixing Holes in Social Safety Nets
D. Minding the Gap on Immigration Status Changes
5 Conclusion
About the U.S. Immigration Policy Program
The U.S. Immigration Policy Program provides analysis of U.S. immigration pathways, the impacts of enforcement and other policies, and the characteristics of immigrant populations.
About the Global Program
The Global Program bridges policy advice, research, and candid dialogue to design effective migration policies, drawing on global evidence and anticipating the forces reshaping how people move.
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