Forging mobilities, becoming ideal workers? Temporary migration and the gig economy

This study investigates the connection between a specific migration trajectory, the Working Holiday Visa Scheme and new forms of precarious, digitally-mediated jobs. Drawing on 20 narrative interviews conducted between 2021 and 2023, it follows working holidaymakers from Chile as they migrate to Germany. The findings reveal how research participants forge mobilities against temporary visa regimes and how these practices in turn shape their subjectivities and their relationship to platform work. I argue that this particular experience of liminality produces an ideal workforce for platform companies requiring a high turnover of hyperflexible, digitally savvy workers. Focussing on one particular and yet understudied visa category contributes to theorisations of the co-constitution of platform labour and immigration regulations.