{"id":5121,"date":"2025-06-19T23:19:19","date_gmt":"2025-06-19T23:19:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/the-benefits-and-challenges-of-the-gig-economy-perspective-of-gig-workers-and-small-medium-and-micro-enterprises-smmes-in-south-africa\/"},"modified":"2025-06-20T03:19:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-20T03:19:10","slug":"the-benefits-and-challenges-of-the-gig-economy-perspective-of-gig-workers-and-small-medium-and-micro-enterprises-smmes-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/the-benefits-and-challenges-of-the-gig-economy-perspective-of-gig-workers-and-small-medium-and-micro-enterprises-smmes-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"The Benefits and Challenges of the Gig Economy: Perspective of Gig Workers and Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This article was originally published as: <strong>The Benefits and Challenges of the Gig Economy: Perspective of Gig Workers and Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) in South Africa<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Original Article Link: <a href='https:\/\/journals.dut.ac.za\/index.php\/ajims\/article\/view\/1051' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Read Original Article<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Download PDF: <a href='https:\/\/journals.dut.ac.za\/index.php\/ajims\/article\/view\/1051\/866' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Click Here to Download PDF<\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Abstract<\/h2>\n<p>Digital work, otherwise referred to as &#8216;gig&#8217; work, is heralded as a useful strategy that could help bridge the unemployment rate in South Africa by connecting job seekers and business organisations across the global spectrum. The purpose of this paper was to explore the benefits and challenges of the gig economy on SMMEs in South Africa. In this study, an interpretive research paradigm was followed to explore the benefits and challenges of the gig economy in the SMMEs in South Africa. Semi-structured focus group interviews were conducted with 20 participants, consisting of thirteen gig workers (n=13) and seven business organization employees (n=7). The data collected were thematically analysed with the aid of NVivo v12 software (QSR International Pty Ltd, 2015). The participants held the view that the gig economy can promote business growth and economic inclusion, and help organisations better manage their resources. While gig work offers some advantages, the participants highlighted concerns surrounding the lack of clear policy, occupational vulnerability, precarity, platform-based work, and the risks of gig work. The study suggests that gig work is critical to advancing the growth of Small, Medium, and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) in South Africa.<\/p>\n<h2>Authors<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Sudhika Palhad (Durban University of Technology, South Africa)<\/li>\n<li>Stanley Onwubu (Durban University of Technology)<\/li>\n<li>Rasmi  Singh (Durban University of Technology, South Africa)<\/li>\n<li>Rookmoney Thakur (Durban University of Technology, South Africa)<\/li>\n<li>Surendra Thakur (Durban University of Technology, South Africa)<\/li>\n<li>Gugu  Mkhize (Insurance Sector Education and Training Authority)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Keywords<\/h2>\n<p>digital work, gig economy, South Africa, unemployment<\/p>\n<h2>References<\/h2>\n<p>References not available for this article.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This article was originally published as: The Benefits and Challenges of the Gig Economy: Perspective of Gig Workers and Small&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[124],"tags":[2153,1828,1829,1265,1546],"class_list":["post-5121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","tag-ajims","tag-digital-work","tag-gig-economy","tag-south-africa","tag-unemployment","wpcat-124-id"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Benefits and Challenges of the Gig Economy: Perspective of Gig Workers and Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) in South Africa - IJSSASS Repository<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/the-benefits-and-challenges-of-the-gig-economy-perspective-of-gig-workers-and-small-medium-and-micro-enterprises-smmes-in-south-africa\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Benefits and Challenges of the Gig Economy: Perspective of Gig Workers and Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) in South Africa - IJSSASS Repository\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This article was originally published as: The Benefits and Challenges of the Gig Economy: Perspective of Gig Workers and Small...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/the-benefits-and-challenges-of-the-gig-economy-perspective-of-gig-workers-and-small-medium-and-micro-enterprises-smmes-in-south-africa\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"IJSSASS Repository\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ijssass\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-19T23:19:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-20T03:19:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/c-users-user-desktop-logo-pnglogo-2.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"195\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/the-benefits-and-challenges-of-the-gig-economy-perspective-of-gig-workers-and-small-medium-and-micro-enterprises-smmes-in-south-africa\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/the-benefits-and-challenges-of-the-gig-economy-perspective-of-gig-workers-and-small-medium-and-micro-enterprises-smmes-in-south-africa\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#\/schema\/person\/adf9bae5731958270e2140cfc1af3771\"},\"headline\":\"The Benefits and Challenges of the Gig Economy: Perspective of Gig Workers and Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) in South Africa\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-19T23:19:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-20T03:19:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/the-benefits-and-challenges-of-the-gig-economy-perspective-of-gig-workers-and-small-medium-and-micro-enterprises-smmes-in-south-africa\/\"},\"wordCount\":316,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"ajims\",\"digital work\",\"gig economy\",\"South Africa\",\"unemployment\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Articles\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/the-benefits-and-challenges-of-the-gig-economy-perspective-of-gig-workers-and-small-medium-and-micro-enterprises-smmes-in-south-africa\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/the-benefits-and-challenges-of-the-gig-economy-perspective-of-gig-workers-and-small-medium-and-micro-enterprises-smmes-in-south-africa\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/the-benefits-and-challenges-of-the-gig-economy-perspective-of-gig-workers-and-small-medium-and-micro-enterprises-smmes-in-south-africa\/\",\"name\":\"The Benefits and Challenges of the Gig Economy: Perspective of Gig Workers and Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) in South Africa - IJSSASS Repository\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-19T23:19:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-20T03:19:10+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/the-benefits-and-challenges-of-the-gig-economy-perspective-of-gig-workers-and-small-medium-and-micro-enterprises-smmes-in-south-africa\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/the-benefits-and-challenges-of-the-gig-economy-perspective-of-gig-workers-and-small-medium-and-micro-enterprises-smmes-in-south-africa\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/the-benefits-and-challenges-of-the-gig-economy-perspective-of-gig-workers-and-small-medium-and-micro-enterprises-smmes-in-south-africa\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Benefits and Challenges of the Gig Economy: Perspective of Gig Workers and Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) in South Africa\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/\",\"name\":\"INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND SCIENTIFIC STUDIES\",\"description\":\"Open Access Library\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#organization\"},\"alternateName\":\"IJSSASS\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#organization\",\"name\":\"INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND SCIENTIFIC STUDIES\",\"alternateName\":\"IJSSASS\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/c-users-user-desktop-logo-pnglogo-3.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/c-users-user-desktop-logo-pnglogo-3.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":195,\"caption\":\"INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND SCIENTIFIC STUDIES\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ijssass\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#\/schema\/person\/adf9bae5731958270e2140cfc1af3771\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e2404e10f252fd74bce698fdfc0296b3cfb701b99d14951364bf9586aaa0c4a8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e2404e10f252fd74bce698fdfc0296b3cfb701b99d14951364bf9586aaa0c4a8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Benefits and Challenges of the Gig Economy: Perspective of Gig Workers and Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) in South Africa - IJSSASS Repository","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/the-benefits-and-challenges-of-the-gig-economy-perspective-of-gig-workers-and-small-medium-and-micro-enterprises-smmes-in-south-africa\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Benefits and Challenges of the Gig Economy: Perspective of Gig Workers and Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) in South Africa - IJSSASS Repository","og_description":"This article was originally published as: The Benefits and Challenges of the Gig Economy: Perspective of Gig Workers and Small...","og_url":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/the-benefits-and-challenges-of-the-gig-economy-perspective-of-gig-workers-and-small-medium-and-micro-enterprises-smmes-in-south-africa\/","og_site_name":"IJSSASS Repository","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ijssass","article_published_time":"2025-06-19T23:19:19+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-06-20T03:19:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":300,"height":195,"url":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/c-users-user-desktop-logo-pnglogo-2.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/the-benefits-and-challenges-of-the-gig-economy-perspective-of-gig-workers-and-small-medium-and-micro-enterprises-smmes-in-south-africa\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/the-benefits-and-challenges-of-the-gig-economy-perspective-of-gig-workers-and-small-medium-and-micro-enterprises-smmes-in-south-africa\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#\/schema\/person\/adf9bae5731958270e2140cfc1af3771"},"headline":"The Benefits and Challenges of the Gig Economy: Perspective of Gig Workers and Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) in South Africa","datePublished":"2025-06-19T23:19:19+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-20T03:19:10+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/the-benefits-and-challenges-of-the-gig-economy-perspective-of-gig-workers-and-small-medium-and-micro-enterprises-smmes-in-south-africa\/"},"wordCount":316,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#organization"},"keywords":["ajims","digital work","gig economy","South Africa","unemployment"],"articleSection":["Articles"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/the-benefits-and-challenges-of-the-gig-economy-perspective-of-gig-workers-and-small-medium-and-micro-enterprises-smmes-in-south-africa\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/the-benefits-and-challenges-of-the-gig-economy-perspective-of-gig-workers-and-small-medium-and-micro-enterprises-smmes-in-south-africa\/","url":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/the-benefits-and-challenges-of-the-gig-economy-perspective-of-gig-workers-and-small-medium-and-micro-enterprises-smmes-in-south-africa\/","name":"The Benefits and Challenges of the Gig Economy: Perspective of Gig Workers and Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) in South Africa - IJSSASS Repository","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-06-19T23:19:19+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-20T03:19:10+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/the-benefits-and-challenges-of-the-gig-economy-perspective-of-gig-workers-and-small-medium-and-micro-enterprises-smmes-in-south-africa\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/the-benefits-and-challenges-of-the-gig-economy-perspective-of-gig-workers-and-small-medium-and-micro-enterprises-smmes-in-south-africa\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/the-benefits-and-challenges-of-the-gig-economy-perspective-of-gig-workers-and-small-medium-and-micro-enterprises-smmes-in-south-africa\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Benefits and Challenges of the Gig Economy: Perspective of Gig Workers and Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) in South Africa"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/","name":"INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND SCIENTIFIC STUDIES","description":"Open Access Library","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#organization"},"alternateName":"IJSSASS","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#organization","name":"INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND SCIENTIFIC STUDIES","alternateName":"IJSSASS","url":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/c-users-user-desktop-logo-pnglogo-3.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/c-users-user-desktop-logo-pnglogo-3.png","width":300,"height":195,"caption":"INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND SCIENTIFIC STUDIES"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ijssass"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#\/schema\/person\/adf9bae5731958270e2140cfc1af3771","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e2404e10f252fd74bce698fdfc0296b3cfb701b99d14951364bf9586aaa0c4a8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e2404e10f252fd74bce698fdfc0296b3cfb701b99d14951364bf9586aaa0c4a8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal"],"url":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5121"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5348,"href":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5121\/revisions\/5348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}