Committed But Not Connected: Platform-Based Job Design and Organizational Commitment Among Gig Workers in India

Abstract

Purpose: This study examines how platform-based job design shapes organisational commitment among gig workers in a developing-country context, addressing the limited empirical attention given to commitment in platform-mediated work.

Design/methodology/approach: A mixed-method design was used with 226 gig workers. Survey data from 203 respondents were analysed using SPSS v26, followed by 23 semi-structured interviews analysed in ATLAS.ti. The study examined affective, continuance and normative commitment and integrated quantitative and qualitative findings.

Findings: Autonomy significantly predicts affective and normative commitment, indicating that flexibility and task discretion can strengthen psychological attachment. Continuance commitment is influenced more strongly by economic dependence, limited alternatives and switching costs. Qualitative findings show that gig-worker commitment emerges through a paradoxical combination of flexibility, income necessity, algorithmic control and fragile platform belonging.

Research limitations/implications: The cross-sectional design, geographical concentration and self-reported data limit causal inference and generalisability.

Originality/value: The study extends organisational commitment research into the underexplored context of gig work, showing that commitment can develop even without conventional employment relationships and is shaped by platform-mediated job design.