Migrant Platform Workers in Europe: A Systematic Literature Review

Introduction: For several years now, academic literature has demonstrated a steadfast interest in the intricate issues surrounding the evolving gig economy and the influence of algorithmic management on (atypical) working conditions, employment, and industrial relations. Therefore, the growing number of empirical studies on this topic needs to be organised and summarised, and knowledge gaps need to be identified.Aim: This article aims to conduct a systematic review of the literature to answer the question of what researchers have discovered thus far regarding the working and employment conditions of migrant platform workers in European Union countries.Materials and methods: This article is based on an analysis of 45 peer-reviewed research articles, indexed in the Scopus database, published as of June 2025. To organise the collected material, we employed a typology of five domains of working and employment conditions in platform work (job security, income, working time, social security and representation).Results: The empirical evidence gathered clearly shows that migrant platform workers experience extremely precarious employment and working conditions. Despite the myths surrounding flexibility, entrepreneurship, and high earnings, workers in this sector face discrimination, long hours, piecework pay and widespread job insecurity. However, the literature pays little attention to issues related to workers social security, especially the way in which they navigate the social security system and their strategies for avoiding accidents at work. A review of the literature has identified an emerging trend in research on the growing agency of foreign migrant workers, exemplified by individual and collective strategies of resistance to algorithmic management and other practices used in the gig economy.