Gig Workers' Identity Construction in Pakistan's Platform Economy

The rapid expansion of Pakistan’s platform economy has introduced digitally mediated labor arrangements that fundamentally restructure occupational identities and the meanings workers attach to their work. Based on constructivist grounded theory, this study delves into the process of gig workers' self-negotiated and self-built occupational identities in the gig economy in the city of Karachi in Pakistan. Through in-depth interviews with 43 platform workers in Karachi (25 ride-sharing drivers and 18 food delivery riders), the analysis produced the Adaptive Identity Construction Framework, theorizing identity construction as a simultaneous process across temporal, algorithmic, and sociocultural dimensions. Four types of identity were formed: Anchored Entrepreneurs, Quantified Performers, Pragmatic Provisioners, and Transitional Seekers. A key point is the practice of "permanent temporariness" where workers recognize the situation but keep making a mental investment in how things might be otherwise as a way of feeling dignified. The study also shows that algorithmic ratings become internalized in workers' identities, creating a quantified identity of work in the context of platform capitalism. The findings extend work identity theory to Global South platform economy contexts, illuminating how global digital labor platforms intersect with local norms of honor (izzat), educational credential inflation, and class hierarchies to produce context-specific identity construction dynamics.