Skip to Main Content
You are now in the main content area

Redefining quality of work within new configurations of work and mobility

Banners for TRS2 - 7

Project Lead(s)

Anna Triandafyllidou, Suzanne Huot

Team Members

Marshia Akbar, María Cervantes (external link) , Hari KC, Georgiana Mathurin, 

Given the potential high flexibility of gig work with relatively less oversight and regulation, it is of interest to understand how immigrants weave this form of employment into their everyday lives and navigate occupational balance across all things they need, want and are expected to do.

BD-branding-line-green - 4

Objective 

This project investigates the two diametrically opposed factes of the digital nomads working and migrant workers engage in digital platforms. Understanding these opposing yet similar realities will give rise to new knowledge of current day views on quality of work.

BD-branding-line-green - 4

Research question(s)

  1. How has the rise of gig economy work changed the way quality of work is perceived, defined, and assessed? 
  2. Are there differences among workers and across sectors in terms of citizenship status, migration status, and workers' definitions/perception of quality of work?
  3. What new concepts are needed to make sense of these new work realities? 
  4. How can we provide supports, work, and welfare policies for migrant workers in the platform economy as well as for digital nomads?
BD-branding-line-green - 4

Methodology

This study adopts a mixed-methods approach, bringing together policy analysis, stakeholder interview, stakeholder consultations, and digital ethnography.

BD-branding-line-green - 4

Status

Work on digital nomads and on migrant workers in digital platforms and remote work has been partly completed. Several publications are in progress, some originating from work that was already ongoing.

Publications in progress:

Jackson, S., & Huot, S. (2025). Tensions of remote work for newcomers in Canada: Striking a balance between isolation and flexibility. In progress.

Jackson, S., & Huot, S. (2025). Platform economy governance discourse: A comparative thematic analysis of two provinces. In progress.

Jackson, S., Kiaulakyte, V., Krywulak, A., Soreal, S., & Huot, S. (2025). The blurring of first and second places among remote working newcomers in Canada. In progress.

KC, Hari, and Triandafyllidou, A. (2025) Digital Nomad Visas: a Migration or Tourism Policy? International Migration Review. In progress

Mathurin, G. Lam, L. Al-Alaoui, S. and Triandafyllidou, A. (2025) A fine balance: Exploring job quality in platform work between migrants and non-migrants. International Migration Review. In progress.

Triandafyllidou, A. (2025). Migration, Advanced Digital Technologies and the Future of Work, International Migration Review. Accepted, in progress.

Triandafyllidou, A. (2025). Migration, Advanced Digital Technologies and the Future of Work, Introduction to the Special Issue.

Further work is currently developing on remote workers and digital platforms with a special emphasis on comparisons between locals and newcomers and also between national and transnational remote work. We are also pursuing further policy analysis on digital nomad visa policies around the world in comparative perspectives and seek to reconceptualise digital nomadism from a migration perspective, relating to temporary and transient migration. In particular, we will be examining whether workers have experienced any changes since the new employment standards for gig workers have been recently implemented in British Columbia.

Expected completion date: August 2026

BD-branding-line-green - 4

Key words

Digital nomads; digital platforms; gig economy; migrant work; quality of work