Online platform algorithmic control and gig workers’ turnover intention in China: The mediating role of relative deprivation

A new perspective emerged from a study published in the Journal of Management Science and Engineering: algorithmic control is not merely a "negative management tool". Instead, its three-dimensional functions (behavioral constraints, tracking evaluation, and standardized guidance) exert significantly different impacts on the turnover intention of gig workers, breaking the previous one-dimensional understanding of algorithmic control.

Simply put, the results show that behavioral constraints and tracking evaluation increase turnover intention by exacerbating relative deprivation, while standardized guidance mitigates this effect and even directly reduces turnover intention.

“Prior studies mostly focused on the overall impact of algorithmic control but ignored its functional heterogeneity,” says corresponding author Wei Cai. “Our study reveals the mediating role of ‘relative deprivation’ based on the JD-R model, and for the first time confirming that the standardized guidance inherent in algorithms can serve as a "buffering resource," providing a new approach for platforms to optimize management.”

The authors collected data from 242 food delivery riders through a two-stage questionnaire survey (one month apart) to minimize common method bias and enhance the persuasiveness of the conclusions.

“Algorithmic control does not only have negative impacts on gig workers – it can also trigger positive outcomes,” adds Cai. “This conclusion reminds platforms that there is no need to completely negate algorithmic management; instead, they can balance efficiency and humanistic care by strengthening standardized guidance (such as optimizing task matching and real-time feedback), thereby alleviating the industry pain point of high turnover rates.”

###

Contact the author: Wei Cai, School of International Studies, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru, Malaysia, caiwei20211118@163.com

The publisher KeAi was established by Elsevier and China Science Publishing & Media Ltd to unfold quality research globally. In 2013, our focus shifted to open access publishing. We now proudly publish more than 200 world-class, open access, English language journals, spanning all scientific disciplines. Many of these are titles we publish in partnership with prestigious societies and academic institutions, such as the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC).