The Effect of Gig Workers' Job Characteristics on Career Sustainability in China: A Moderated Mediation Model

ABSTRACT The new work characteristics of platform organizations attract a large number of gig workers with independent preferences to work in platform organizations as a career choice, but also bring challenges to the protection of labor rights and interests of gig workers, and threaten the sustainability of their careers. The objective of this research is to develop and validate a measurement tool for gig workers' job characteristics (GWJC) and to investigate the impact of GWJC on career sustainability in China. In Study 1 (scale development, total N = 424), we developed a five‐dimensional, 20‐item GWJC scale, which comprises two subscales: autonomous job characteristics (AJC) and controlled job characteristics (CJC). Specifically, AJC encompasses two dimensions: work flexibility and task incentives; CJC encompasses three dimensions: algorithmic control, time rigidity, and feedback compulsion. In Study 2 (field study, N = 376), data from 376 food delivery riders and online ride‐hailing drivers (e.g., DiDi) in China were analyzed using hierarchical regression. Results showed that AJC positively affects career sustainability, while CJC negatively affects it. Need satisfaction partly mediates the relationship between AJC/CJC and career sustainability. Online coworker support enhances the positive effect of AJC on career sustainability through need satisfaction, but it does not mitigate the negative effect of CJC. These conclusions are of great significance to advancing the research on the theory and practice of gig workers.