Platform economy database
Database of initiatives and court cases in the EU
Eurofound’s platform economy database provides information on 386 initiatives and court cases that exist or have been implemented in relation to activities in the platform economy. The database was last updated in February 2024 and provides metadata for each entry, such as geographical scope, year, type of initiative, actors involved, sector and companies concerned. Initiatives include legal instruments such as legislative changes or court decisions, as well as voluntary interventions undertaken by different stakeholders to address issues around platform work.
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The database currently contains 386 entries and was last updated in February 2024.
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France
Frizbiz is a platform for on-location medium skilled tasks, which matches workers with clients to fulfil tasks related to household repairs. It defines jobbing as ‘a concept stemming from the collaborative economy, which promotes the sale of services and help between individuals’. Frizbiz offers a service that brings together individuals who need help to carry out work in their homes and individuals or professionals – ‘jobbers’ - who are looking for work to ‘round out their income, finance their projects or hobbies’. The platform thus offers an opportunity for individuals or professionals to quickly find a ‘job’ close to where they live, in a field of expertise that they choose and that relates to housing. The platform increases the visibility of the individuals or professionals looking for additional income and matches them with those who require help with different tasks.
To develop, the platform it has concluded partnerships with the large DIY stores such as Leroy Merlin. This partnership, which lasted for five years, from 2015 to 2020, gave jobbers privileged access to workshops organised by the DIY store for its customers. Jobbers could participate and learn DIY techniques. This scheme is therefore not comparable to vocational training, but it allows jobbers to improve their skills.
Scale of the initiative
Frizbiz states that ‘200,000 verified private and professional jobbers are registered, of which 50,000 are active’. According to Augustin Verlinde, Frizbiz CEO, the average amount of services rendered is between 150 and 200 euros.
According to the French Building Federation (Fédération Française du Bâtiment - FFB), nearly 150 sites offering matching services for DYI tasks were listed in France in May 2017. A market that already captures 11% of the work and up to 21% of the breakdowns. Although it is difficult to quantify the exact number of ‘jobbers’, the eight main platforms (AlloVoisins, Smiile, Frizbiz, Needhelp, Stootie, YoupiJob, Mon SuperVoisin and SuperMano) have 3.5 million accounts.
Strengths and weaknesses
The number of active users indicates that the initiative provides an attractive solution to matching supply and demand for services. The platform provides access to the labour market to people who possess the skills to perform certain tasks but who do not necessarily have formal training in a specific area.
The platform also offers a reassuring context for the customer. The system of ‘trust badges’ awarded to the jobber and the final rating given by the platform, accompanied by the posting of customer comments, seek to ensure the quality of services. These elements, together with a reminder of the social and fiscal legal obligations incumbent on users provide a framework for ‘small jobs’ which can be reassuring and attractive for users, both jobbers and clients.
The lack of formal training courses or support to get access to vocational training which can lead to recognised diplomas is one of the weaknesses of the platform. Even if, during the partnership with Leroy Merlin, the jobbers could access workshops to acquire DIY skills, this scheme is not comparable to a professional training scheme that delivers accredited courses.
The platform economy is one of those moving targets, which, despite receiving increasing media and policy attention, has proven difficult to regulate. Given the heterogeneity of employment relationships, business models, types of platform work and cross-border issues, this is not surprising.
Technological change is accelerating as the capacity of electronic devices to digitally store, process and communicate information expands. Digitalisation is transforming the EU economy and labour markets: nearly one-third of EU workplaces are categorised as highly digitalised. What are the implications of the digital revolution for employment and work?
The rapid rise of the platform economy has led to a marked transformation of European labour markets, and existing regulatory frameworks and voluntary initiatives have yet to catch up. While platform work offers opportunities for workers and employers and potentially contributes to innovation, economic growth and competitiveness in the EU, it has been criticised from the beginning because of the poor employment and working conditions often experienced by workers.
While 2020 may come to be seen as the year platform work gathered pace and started to go mainstream – thanks in large part to COVID-19 containment measures sparking an increase in food and grocery delivery – 2021 could be the year that regulation of platform work is set in motion.
