This report analyses the working conditions and information needs of online platform workers based on a survey of 3 830 workers across 15 EU Member States. Unlike existing research focused on on-location platform work, this study examines workers who provide services entirely online. The findings reveal a workforce that is predominantly male, of prime working age and highly educated, primarily delivering skilled professional services rather than microtasks.

In June 2026, Government, Employer and Worker representatives from the 187 ILO Member States will gather at the International Labour Conference to discuss world of work issues such as decent work in the platform economy, a transformative agenda for gender equality at work and social dialogue and tripartism. 

Building on Eurofound’s established conceptual framework of the digital age, this concept paper examines how the unfolding artificial intelligence wave is set to transform not only the world of work and employment, but also the wider fabric of society, from the delivery and quality of public services to the production, dissemination and governance of information. The analysis is guided by four vectors of change – automation, augmentation, digitisation and platformisation – identified as the central drivers shaping this transformation.

Technology is more likely to create new tasks than remove existing ones, according to new findings from the unique pan-European Working Conditions Survey. Rather than widespread destruction, the primary challenges facing the EU workforce as digitalisation transforms the European labour market, are shifting towards skills mismatches, generational divides, and worker autonomy.