How to optimally organise temporary jobs using online platforms

Temporary work affects people's living and working environments as well as their social security. We will investigate platform-based temporary work (crowd working) of nursing professionals in Swiss hospitals on an individual, organisational and social level in order to develop general recommendations for action. The research team consists of specialists in health economics, organisational psychology, nursing science, social law and statistical data analysis. Associations, hospitals and employment agencies for temporary care professionals are the practical partners in our study.

We will collect and statistically evaluate data from an online platform as well as quality data from hospitals. We will analyse the current legal situation and provide projections regarding the effects on the shortage of skilled staff. We will also interview temporary staff and hospital managers, and examine team interactions.

A new work trend has emerged in the last decade: crowd working. This is a type of temporary work in which professionals and companies find each other for temporary work arrangements on online platforms. Platform-based temporary work has the potential to create more flexible working environments that are optimally adapted to the needs of the job seekers and the companies. However, very little is known about the advantages and disadvantages of this recent trend.

So far, research has mainly focused on the advantages and disadvantages of temporary work for unskilled workers. We will investigate platform-based temporary work for nursing professionals in Swiss hospitals.

Our main goals are the following:

1. To understand the market mechanisms on online platforms for temporary work, and to identify the consequences for the job and living environments of temporary staff.
2. To pinpoint the effects of platform-based temporary jobs on work organisation, work processes and the quality of the results of this work.
3. To quantify the impact on the shortage of skilled staff in Switzerland.
4. To elaborate the regulatory needs for these forms of work.

The project will generate the following benefits for platform-based temporary work in Switzerland:

1. Recommendations concerning the regulations needed to reduce negative impacts.
2. A monitoring concept to analyse and observe further developments.
3. Recommendations for organisations on how best to implement this form of work.
4. Recommendations for temporary staff on how best to manage this form of work.

Crowd Working in der Schweiz (CroWiS)- eine interdisziplinäre Analyse am Beispiel von Temporärkräften in der Pflege