Segmentation of Working Time in the Gig Economy— A Panel Data Study

The re-organization of work via digital labor platforms has introduced fully flexible work schedules in courier services such as food delivery. However, little is known about how working activity on such platforms may vary over time. This study examines the working time patterns of a full population of food delivery workers (N = 17,641) at the Danish food delivery platform Wolt over 6 years (2017-2022). It identifies three worker segments: Dabblers (few hours and short part-time over a few months), Temporaries(part-time for around 6 months), and Regulars (long part-time and full-time for 1-2 years). The results show that despite being a numerically smaller segment, Regulars increasingly perform the largest share of working hours. The article discusses implications of diversified working time patterns and uneven workloads across the three segments.