For Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems to function, humans must be in the loop to train, tune, and augment them. This means humans are needed to complete tasks such as coding, cleaning data, identifying (adult) content, labelling images, and transcribing training data for algorithms. Much of this work is done via on-demand employment offered and performed online, paid by the task, on digital labor platforms such as Clickworker and Amazon Mechanical Turk. This rapidly expanding, largely invisible, piece of the platform economy has been called ghost work (Gray & Suri, 2019). Services, delivered by AI and humans working together, may enhance our daily productivity and convenience, but they also introduce new social challenges. The largely invisible work conditions together with the potential for ghost work to move automation forward into the next decades, urgently calls for an investigation of who, how, and with what consequences ghost work is performed in Europe.

The main goal of this PhD-project is to test the influence of ghost worker’s work conditions on well-being in the short-term by means of daily dairy studies. If the previous studies on the project report new work conditions specifically related to ghost work that do not have validated measurement scales yet, they will be developed and validated in this PhD-trajectory. The hypothesized relationships between worker’s work conditions and well-being will be tested using two five-day diary questionnaires (Bolger, et al., 2003; Ohly, et al., 2010). Ghost workers are likely to experience intra-individual fluctuations in their work conditions and well-being across workdays, depending on the variety and type of work tasks they engage in. The first study will examine the extent to which their psychological and psychosomatic well-being is impacted by fluctuating work tasks and work conditions at the intra-individual level across workdays. In the second study, the assessments of a worker’s social well-being, as obtained from partners or close relatives, are considered as an outcome variable. Multi-level structural equation modelling (MLSEM) will be used to assess the degree to which ghost workers’ working conditions and well-being fluctuate within-persons over time.

More specifically, this PhD-project aims to:

• Develop and validate the Ghost Workers’ Work Conditions scale
• Study daily fluctuations in work conditions and well-being related to platform work
• Study the influence of platform work on social well-being, assessed by a close relative or partner

We are looking for a PhD candidate who:

• Completed a master in the social sciences (e.g., Organizational Psychology, Sociology, Communication Science, Human Resources and Management Studies), preferable a research master;
• Has experience in conducting quantitative research methods such as Structural Equation Modeling and/or Multilevel-modeling;
• Has proven experience with Experience Sampling Method designs;
• Has excellent speaking and writing skills in English;
• Likes working in and being part of a research team;
• Would enjoy traveling for work and conducting interviews abroad;
• Would be available and willing to start the PhD project September 2022.

An internationally oriented and varied job in an enthusiastic team, with good working conditions in accordance with the Collective Labor Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU).

You will start with a salary of € 2.443 based on a fulltime basis. The maximum gross salary on a fulltime basis is € 3.122 gross per month, in accordance with scale P of the CAO-NU. In addition, we offer an 8% holiday allowance, an end-of-year payment of 8.3%, and a very generous paid leave scheme. Furthermore, EUR is affiliated with ABP for the pension provision, and we offer partially paid parental leave, fully paid extended birth leave for partners, a personal career budget, work-life balance coaches, discounted collective health insurance, and more. As an employee, you can also use EUR facilities such as the University library and receive a discount on subscriptions for the Erasmus sports center.

Erasmus University Rotterdam offers a Dual Career Programme (DCP) to assist the life partners of new academic staff (on payroll) in finding employment in The Netherlands. The programme is offered in close cooperation with the nearby universities of Delft and Leiden.

As a PhD candidate you are automatically a member of the Erasmus Graduate School of Social Sciences and the Humanities (EGSH). This means you can attend their courses and workshops for free and make use of our support services.

Erasmus University Rotterdam aspires to be an equitable and inclusive community. We nurture an open culture, where everyone is supported to fulfill their full potential. We see inclusivity of talent as the basis of our successes, and the diversity of perspectives and people as a highly valued outcome. EUR provides equal opportunities to all employees and applicants regardless of gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, age, neurodiversity, functional impairment, citizenship, or any other aspect which makes them unique. We look forward to welcoming you to our community.

Erasmus University Rotterdam

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) is an internationally oriented university with a strong social orientation in its education and research, as expressed in our mission ‘Creating positive societal impact’. EUR is home to 3.700 academics and professionals and almost 33.000 students from more than 140 countries. Everything we do, we do under the credo The Erasmian Way – Making Minds Matter. We’re global citizens, connecting, entrepreneurial, open-minded, and socially involved. These Erasmian Values function as our internal compass and create EUR’s distinctive and recognizable profile. From these values, with a broad perspective and with an eye for diversity, different backgrounds and opinions, our employees work closely together to solve societal challenges from the dynamic and cosmopolitan city of Rotterdam. Thanks to the high quality and positive societal impact of our research and education, EUR can compete with the top European universities. www.eur.nl.

Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences

The Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences (ESSB) is home to a vast diversity of scientific disciplines: public administration, pedagogical sciences, psychology and sociology. In addition, the Erasmus University College, IHS, and two research institutes RISBO and DRIFT are linked to the faculty. This also reflects in the content of the (international) bachelor's and master's programs and in research.  Our activities are always focused on people and society. At the ESSB fundamental, internationally oriented research is of paramount importance. In addition, social research for professionals, policy makers, and the society is part of our research activities. ESSB offers a stimulating research environment where major national and international research grants are received. Appealing guest researchers and ambitious PhD candidates come along to conduct their research. Our education is small-scale and works with innovative forms of education such as Problem-Based Learning (PBL). Both the Dutch and English programs are highly ranked by students and alumni. ESSB is home to over 4000 students and more than 400 staff-members. The different disciplines are supported by the Faculty Office (for more information, please visit www.eur.nl/essb).