Conventional or gig employment? Insights into food delivery workers’ workforce transformation

Abstract

This study examines motivations and challenges influencing the transformation between conventional and gig employment among food delivery workers in Hong Kong. Using a grounded theory method, 25 semi-structured interviews were conducted with workers who had experienced both employment modes. The findings showed that a complex interplay of push–pull factors, which align with psychological needs in self-determination theory, drives these workforce transitions. Workers who had abandoned conventional employment cited leadership exploitation in traditional restaurants and fast-food chains’ rigid uniform policies as push factors that undermined workers’ competence and autonomy; platform work’s flexibility and friendly environment constituted pull factors enhancing autonomy and relatedness. A distinct category of hybrid workers also emerged, who sought to diversify their income by engaging in both employment modes simultaneously. These results shed light on Hong Kong’s unique labor ecosystem and how workers navigate both forms of employment to satisfy psychological needs given the gig economy’s context-dependent duality.