Izzivi prihodnosti / Challenges of the Future, Članek / Article Avgust / August 2024, leto / year 9, številka / number 3, str. / pp. 190–205. * Korespondenčni avtor / Correspondence author 190 Prejeto: 17. februar 2024; revidirano: 12. april 2024; sprejeto: 23. julij 2024. / Received: 17th February 2024; revised: 12th April 2024; accepted: 23rd July 2024. DOI: 10.37886/ip.2024.010 Employee Loyalty in the Platform Economy: Does it Exist? Barbara Švagan * University of Primorska, Faculty of management, Izolska vrata 2, 6000 Koper, Slovenia, barbara.svagan@fm-kp.si Abstract: Research Question (RQ): In this paper, we answer the research question of whether platform workers harbour a sense of loyalty towards the platform they work for, despite the transient nature of this work form, the absence of traditional employment benefits and the often-impersonal relationship between the platform and its workers. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to expand the discussion on employee loyalty to the context of platform work, due to the crucial role employee loyalty plays for both organisations and their workers – employee loyalty helps organisations retain their workforce and avoid the harms of employee turnover, while also fostering a sense of belonging and fulfilment among employees. Method: 20 in-depth semi-structured interviews were performed with food delivery couriers (working for Wolt and Glovo) from Slovenia. Results: Our findings show that while this group of workers does display some behaviours which indicate their loyalty to their platform, such as the fact they mostly speak of the platform positively, they actively recommend it to their peers and they display relatively high levels of trust towards it, they do not feel loyal to the extent where they would intend to stay working for the platform indefinitely. Organization: These findings are important for the sustainability of the platform economy model, as they can help reduce employee turnover and consequently improve the consistency and profitability of digital labour platforms. Society: Findings on employee loyalty within the platform economy have the potential to decrease employee turnover, which is currently one of the biggest limitations to collective action in this sector. Originality: This is one of the first papers to discuss the phenomenon of employee loyalty in the context of platform work, as the concept is typically explored in traditional employment relationships. It contributes to our understanding of whether individuals, platform, or non-platform economy participants, can develop a sense of loyalty even towards employers who offer suboptimal working conditions. Limitations / further research: The current body of knowledge would greatly benefit from a longitudinal study which could explain how platform workers’ sentiments towards their platform change over time. Keywords: employee loyalty, platform work, gig economy, job quality, delivery, precarity. 1 Introduction Well before the COVID-19 pandemic, EU-CEE countries were faced with significant labour shortages across various sectors (Astrov et al., 2021). On a company-level, labour shortages Izzivi prihodnosti / Challenges of the Future, Članek / Article Avgust / August 2024, leto / year 9, številka / number 3, str. / pp. 190–205. 191 mean organisations need to pay additional attention to not only how they attract and train, but also how they retain their workers (Lahkar Das et al., 2013). This is especially important due to how severe the consequences of a large worker turnover can be (Alvesson, 2000; Phuong et al., 2020) - it is monetarily and psychologically costly for both the employer as well as the employee (Ing Chung Huang et al., 2006). Its increasing costs have been the focus of academic debates for decades (Koch et al., 1978), as high employee turnover harms all industries, even those where hiring new staff is seemingly easier due to a low required skill level. A study conducted on factory workers in mobile devices production, for example, showed that high worker turnover leads to lower product reliability as it increases the share of field failures – the associated costs are estimated to amount to hundreds of millions of US dollars (Moon et al., 2022). Existing literature indicates that one of the ways in which companies can achieve employee retention is by fostering loyalty among their workers – in fact, some studies indicate that employee attachment is a more effective predictor of worker turnover than job satisfaction (Koch et al., 1978). Employees are less likely to quit their organisation if it is »successful in putting its imprint on the identity of its employees« (Alvesson, 2000, p. 1119). This imprint, one of the most successful paths to employee retention, is typically referred to as employee loyalty (Cuong, 2023). The concept can be defined as the employee's feeling of attachment to their organisation (Yee et al., 2010), or as »a deliberate commitment to further the best interests of one’s employer, even when doing so may demand sacrificing some aspects of one’s self- interest beyond what would be required by one’s legal and other moral duties« (Elegido, 2013, p. 496). Essentially, loyal employees are more likely to stand by their employer in good and bad times, which is highly valuable for organisations (Dutta et al., 2021). The current body of knowledge from the field is largely focused on the importance and effects of employee loyalty in the context of a traditional workplace (Andriani, 2023; Alvesson, 2000; Yee et al., 2010; Auer Antončič et al., 2011), which greatly differs from the workplace created within the platform economy, the focus of this paper. Moreover, authors focus predominantly on what employee loyalty or lack thereof means for employee productivity and consequently on the profitability and growth of the organisation they work for (Yee et al., 2010; Auer Antončič et al., 2011). Additionally, a large strand of literature is focused on customer loyalty towards an organisation (Lin et al., 2015; Sidharta et al., 2021; Amoako et al., 2021) or even towards individual service workers (Bove et al., 2006; 2002), while studies focusing on employee loyalty in the context of platform work are practically non-existent. This paper fills precisely these gaps in the current body of knowledge by answering the central research question of whether platform workers feel loyalty towards the platform they work for. The answers to this research question offer an insight into whether individuals can develop a sense of loyalty towards employers that provide suboptimal working conditions, even beyond the platform context. In the context of platform work, these conditions include the often Izzivi prihodnosti / Challenges of the Future, Članek / Article Avgust / August 2024, leto / year 9, številka / number 3, str. / pp. 190–205. 192 isolating (Seetharaman et al., 2021) and precarious (Hauben et al., 2020) nature of work, which means platform workers are most often independent contractors who are paid on a piece-rate basis (Hui Huang, 2022). Understanding these questions is not only important for worker wellbeing and platform profitability, but also holds relevance for other segments of the labour market, especially the many sectors where employment relationships are growing increasingly contractual and where short-term contracts are often the norm, not the exception. This paper is structured as follows: Section 2 provides the theoretical framework on the determinants and effects of employee loyalty, as well as on the phenomenon of employee loyalty within the platform economy. Section 3 explains the methodology, and Section 4 presents the results of the study. Section 5 contains the discussion, and a conclusion with limitations and possibilities for future research can be found in Section 6. 2 Theoretical framework 2.1 The Determinants and Effects of Employee Loyalty There is no consensus over which determinants contribute most to employee loyalty. In Cuong (2023), survey data from 225 employees in Vietnam showed that the following five elements contribute most to employee loyalty: compensation (the most important factor), work environment, relationships with co-workers, training and development, and job satisfaction. Job satisfaction as a way to achieve organisational loyalty was also emphasized in a survey with 228 Vietnamese doctors, which showed that income, relationship with colleagues, quality of treatment, hospital resources, autonomy at work and training, as well as promotion opportunities were key in achieving high job satisfaction and contributed to high employee loyalty (Vuong et al., 2021). A survey from Indonesia with 45 respondents showed not only that compensation has a positive effect on employee loyalty, but also that it contributes to it the most (Andriani, 2023). Data collected from 10880 employees from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Serbia was used to explore whether there is a link between employee loyalty and workplace reward policies. Results showed that workers are more loyal when they expect to be rewarded for their hard work – whether the reward includes money, opportunities for further skill development or the opportunity to gain more autonomy (Linz et al., 2015). A survey conducted on 532 employees working in Swedish hotels aimed to develop and apply a model of employee loyalty (Martensen et al., 2006). From the results of this study, we can observe that leadership had the biggest effect on employee loyalty, followed by human relations and values, personal development and competencies, job contents, creativity and innovation and customer orientation. The authors point out that, interestingly, almost 50 % of the effect on employee loyalty can be attributed to the characteristics of individual employees or their jobs (such as personal and competence development or job contents and creativity). In conclusion, if companies want to retain their workers, they must provide them with good leaders who are capable of motivating their employees, but also provide them with the opportunities to work on challenging tasks, develop their career plans, and express their creativity. Izzivi prihodnosti / Challenges of the Future, Članek / Article Avgust / August 2024, leto / year 9, številka / number 3, str. / pp. 190–205. 193 Studies show that employee loyalty has an effect on firm growth and profitability – having loyal workers is thus beneficial for employers (Linz et al., 2015). A survey including 210 service shops in Hong Kong showed that employee loyalty improves the service quality, which leads to an increase in customer satisfaction and thus customer loyalty, which, consequently, positively affects the company's profitability (Yee et al., 2010). Therefore, “employee loyalty is a predecessor of customer loyalty” (Dutta et al., 2021, p. 13). A similar connection can be observed through a survey with 134 representatives from Slovenian service and manufacturing companies which confirmed that employee loyalty has an effect on firm growth, especially for manufacturing companies (Auer Antončič et al., 2011). Studies also show that workers who do not feel loyal to their employer are more likely to quit their job, which has a negative effect on company performance. This can be observed in a study which examined 48 months of turnover data from a major retail chain in the USA and showed that “employee turnover is associated with decreased performance, as measured by profit margin and customer service” (Ton et al., 2008, p. 56). Besides positive effects on employers, loyalty towards their employer is also beneficial for the workers, although these benefits are seldom the research focus. In a study by Elegido (2013), the author finds that employee loyalty can contribute to human flourishing, as it can improve the workers’ lives and helps them form authentic relationships. Other studies show that platform workers often feel low levels of relatedness to their jobs and co-workers, as they usually have no shared spaces or regular meetings (Davidson et al., 2023), which makes it harder for them to feel loyal to their platform. 2.2 Employee Loyalty in Platform Work The emergence of the platform economy (also commonly referred to as the gig economy) has, in some ways, redefined work. If traditional employers hire their workers, platform companies rely on short-term independent contractors to offer their services in exchange for payment (Behl et al., 2021). Therefore, platform workers, such as Uber drivers or micro taskers on Amazon Mechanical Turk, have less in-person interactions with their “employers”, enjoy more autonomy to work when and how they want (Gleim et al., 2019), work predominantly alone and are largely managed by sophisticated algorithms which are responsible for task allocation, performance oversight and the implementation of a customer rating system. Due to the unique working conditions digital labour platforms offer, it is important to understand how workers perceive their employment (Davidson et al., 2023) and whether they feel loyal to their digital employer. Similarly to traditional organisations, large worker turnover is also an issue faced by platform companies (Johnston et al., 2018) - while some individuals work for them for a long time, many quit after they realize their income is lower than anticipated or that the working conditions are not as advertised by the platform. At first glance, this turnover in a platform economy context, especially in delivery and ride-hailing, seems to be less problematic, as it appears new workers are abundant and easy to train. However, studies show that unsatisfied and disloyal platform Izzivi prihodnosti / Challenges of the Future, Članek / Article Avgust / August 2024, leto / year 9, številka / number 3, str. / pp. 190–205. 194 workers can present a threat to the platforms’ profitability. Through survey data from 330 ride- hail drivers, Maffie (2023) shows that independence is an alternative to exit in the case of many platform workers. This means that instead of deactivating their platform account, many drivers create their own illegal taxi services and use the platform as a means to source clients to their private business – this does not seem to be a challenge, since one of the drivers claimed 10-12 regular client suffices to be independent from the platform. This study shows that the evidently large worker turnover on digital labour platforms is not harmless, and that while it may seem like the workers are quitting, they are actually creating competitive businesses and thus taking a portion of the platform's profits (Maffie, 2023). The difference in nature of platform jobs as opposed to traditional jobs means achieving loyalty among workers can be challenging. A qualitative study with 327 platform workers in France showed that their commitment towards the platform is positively affected by work meaningfulness, which the workers developed through individual and collaborative job crafting behaviour (Mousa et al., 2023). A survey with 376 white-collar gig workers from several Asian countries showed that another way to improve employee loyalty and increase gig workers’ retention is through gamification of the labour process (Behl et al., 2021), which can be defined as the use of rankings, reputation scores and awards which aim to improve work performance (Krzywdzinski et al., 2021). In a literature review by Zhang & Liu (2020), the authors explore the main factors of enterprise management on employee loyalty in the platform economy. They find that employee loyalty is achieved through enterprise incentive mechanisms (such as rewards for positive performance assessments and career management which includes promotion opportunities), respectful and trust-based enterprise management communication and a focus on staff cohesion and a corporate culture. 3 Method In order to fully encapsulate the workers’ experiences and sentiments of employee loyalty, a qualitative case study (Yin, 2014) with 20 semi structured interviews was conducted with Slovenian food delivery couriers. Prior to conducting the interviews, we reviewed existing literature from the field of employee loyalty in a non-platform employment context, as well as in the context of platform work, using search engines such as Google Scholar and ScienceDirect. In the second step, we conducted 20 semi-structured interviews. When forming the pool of interview participants, a maximum variation purposive sampling was used to capture a diversity of experiences, as we understand that employee loyalty can vary based on worker age, employment status and education levels (Patton, 2014). Participants were recruited through the author’s personal network, via street intercepts and then mostly via snowball method where couriers recruited future participants from their acquaintances. The final sample consisted of 20 food delivery couriers. The interviews were conducted through telephone or video conferencing tools such as Zoom and lasted 45 minutes on average. Izzivi prihodnosti / Challenges of the Future, Članek / Article Avgust / August 2024, leto / year 9, številka / number 3, str. / pp. 190–205. 195 The final interview sample consisted of workers for two delivery platforms which we refer to as “Platform 1” and “Platform 2”. The final sample consisted of 7 women and 13 men from the ages of 19 to 39. Among the 20 participants, 10 worked for the platform as students, while 10 worked as independent contractors. The sample consisted of relatively well-educated individuals, with 12 participants holding a high school diploma and 8 participants holding a bachelor’s degree. All 20 interviews were transcribed and open coded in NVivo (Version 14) according to the principles of deductive thematic analysis as per Braun & Clarke (2006). Firstly, interview transcriptions were reviewed closely to get an initial understanding of our data and to note down preliminary thoughts and potential patterns. In the second step, interviews were coded according to the three key themes, which were the three elements of employee loyalty as defined by Dutta & Dhir (2021). Their model measures employee loyalty through a sense of ownership (whether worker speak positively of their organisation, whether they look forward to their work, whether they believe the organisation has given them a lot, etc.), trust (whether they believe management will help them if needed, whether they can rely on their colleagues, etc.) and willingness to stay (whether workers think about leaving the organisation, if they would chose this organisation again, if given the chance, etc.). During the coding process, themes were refined, as the original themes included employee loyalty elements not applicable to the context of the platform economy. In the following section, participant quotes are used to illustrate to support the themes. To ensure the validity and reliability of our qualitative study, data was triangulated with the researcher’s fieldwork diary, and the results section presents different perspectives of the participants perspectives, regardless of incidence – the presentation of contradictory statements enhances the study’s validity (Creswell, 2009). In order to improve qualitative reliability, all transcripts were re-read several times to eliminate mistakes that can occur during transcription (Gibbs, 2007). Before the onset of the interviews, ethical approval from the author’s institution was obtained for the purpose of this study and all participants provided informed consent for their participation. Izzivi prihodnosti / Challenges of the Future, Članek / Article Avgust / August 2024, leto / year 9, številka / number 3, str. / pp. 190–205. 196 Figure 1. Research design 4 Results 4.1 Overview Through literature review and a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews with 20 food delivery couriers, our goal was to answer the research question of whether this group of workers harbours a sense of loyalty towards the platform they work for, despite the transient nature of this work form, the absence of traditional employment benefits anf the often-impersonal relationship between the platform and its workers. Results are presented in three subheadings according to the three consitutents of the employee loyalty model by Dutta & Dhir (2021) presented above. 4.2 A Sense of Ownership When it comes to a sense of ownership, the first determinant of employee loyalty, which we observe when employees feel that the organisation they work for belongs to them and vice versa, we explore whether the couriers speak positively of the platform they work for, whether they look forward to their job, and whether they feel as if the platform has given them a lot. Izzivi prihodnosti / Challenges of the Future, Članek / Article Avgust / August 2024, leto / year 9, številka / number 3, str. / pp. 190–205. 197 When it comes to the latter, all interview participants agree that the platform has given them the opportunity to maintain a better work-life balance, as it allows them to work whenever and wherever they want. In the words of one of the couriers: “Before, I had two jobs and had a really hard time coordinating both of them with time for friends and family. Now, the platform allows me to work whenever I want, and I really enjoy that.” (P4) There is significant cross-platform variation when it comes to how couriers speak about the platform they work for. Workers from platform 1 speak highly of their chosen platform, mostly emphasizing their appreciation of the respectful and friendly courier support centre, while workers on platform 2 speak poorly of it. Two of the workers stated this: Platform 1: “Our platform’s staff is very kind, they communicate well, they help us if we make mistakes and I even have some inside jokes with one of the help centre operators.” (P1) Platform 2: “My relationship with the platform began well, but they became inconsiderate after a few months, and I had to wait for payment for a long time.” (P13) Evidence of loyalty towards one of the platforms is further suggested by the fact that its workers often express a belief in the superiority of their platform, despite having no first-hand experience with its competitor. One of the workers told us the following: “While out platform treats us well, I’ve heard that the other delivery platform does not work like that. I heard that they punish you for the mistakes you make and that they are much stricter.” (P1) In addition to expressing positive sentiments about their platform, we noticed that couriers frequently recommend it to their friends and family, which further exemplifies their favourable perception of the platform. While the participants were not directly asked about whether they would recommend this job to others, we observe that 8 out of 20 were recruited by their friends themselves, which is considered a sign of loyalty, as it indicates a sense of pride and trust in the organisation (Martensen et al., 2006). In addition to how they speak about the delivery platform, some couriers explicitly state feeling a sense of belonging and a responsibility to protect the platform’s image and reputation, which encourages them to be kinder and act more responsibly in traffic. One of them described it like this: “When you have a lot of work, you are really trying to be as fast as possible, which means you drive faster than you should, and break traffic rules. The platform is trying hard to remind us to drive safely, and I really do try to be careful. At the end of the day, when I’m delivering for this platform, I’m also representing it, so I do my best to represent it well.” (P14) Izzivi prihodnosti / Challenges of the Future, Članek / Article Avgust / August 2024, leto / year 9, številka / number 3, str. / pp. 190–205. 198 Furthermore, one of the couriers distinctly expressed a sense of ownership towards the platform and was actively contemplating ways in which the platform could improve its operations, which indicates a deep level of commitment. In the words of one of the couriers: »I think the platform could promote our services better, I have a lot of ideas on how it could be more successful. For example, I think we could teach older people how to use the mobile app, because they do have smartphones, and the app is easy enough for them to use it, but they need some help – they often stop me and ask about how they could order food too. « (P3) 4.3 Trust Two factors contribute to the determinant of trust – whether workers feel like they can rely on their colleagues and subordinates to perform their tasks and support them if needed, and whether they can rely on the management to resolve their complaints and other problems that arise at the workplace (Dutta et al., 2021). Platform work, however, is autonomous and isolating in nature (Wood et al., 2019), which means workers do not need to rely on their peers to fulfil their tasks. This does not mean, however, that they do not have contact with their fellow couriers – our observations merely show that the nature of this contact is predominantly social, not professional. One of the couriers, for example, described their contact with their peers like this: “We’re a very connected group, and a lot of us meet daily on a parking lot close to the city centre where we wait for deliveries. We even had a group chat where we talked about work and other things.” (P9) We mostly observe themes of trust arise when discussing the couriers’ relationship with the platform they work for. For some workers, their trust was based on concrete issues, such as the quality of the platform’s mobile application, its general work organisation or payment reliability. This is what they told us about their trust towards their platform. “I really trust this platform because it has a better app than its competitor, and I also prefer how the work is organised with this platform. It’s more flexible. “(P3) “I trust this platform more than the other one because it has a more sophisticated app and a fairer algorithm.” (P9) Interestingly, though, a lot of trust and loyalty is based on hearsay or a “feeling”, which can be observed in the following worker statements: “I work for this platform because I trust it more, but I don’t know why – it’s just a feeling I have.” (P5) “I have more trust for my platform, which is a foreign company, than for its competitor, which started as a start-up created by three Slovenian students.” (P4) Izzivi prihodnosti / Challenges of the Future, Članek / Article Avgust / August 2024, leto / year 9, številka / number 3, str. / pp. 190–205. 199 The participants’ trust towards the platform largely depends on how much they can trust the courier help centre to solve their problems quickly, efficiently, and respectfully, but it is generally very high. Two couriers expressed it in the following way: “I have really good experiences with the platform’s support, they’re excellent. They’re fast, responsive and kind, and they make me feel comfortable when I have issues or requests. Even when you do something wrong, they warn you very kindly.” (P9) “Even though you don’t meet the support in person, you can see them and chat with them when you pick up or replace your equipment at their headquarters. They’re always available, you can even call them, so you’re not just left to your own devices.” (P14) 4.4 Willingness to Stay When it comes to the workers’ willingness to stay at their selected platform, the focus was directed to two major questions – firstly, if the delivery couriers are considering quitting this job, and secondly, if they would choose this platform if they could choose again. When asked about the former, the majority of participants expressed no intent to remain working for the platform indefinitely. This includes both long-term workers, who have been delivering food for several years, as well as short-term workers, who intend on working for a few weeks or a few months only. Two of them stated: “The only reason I’m working for a delivery platform is because I didn’t have enough time to find a better job.” (P18) “I don’t really care about whether we have common areas for the couriers, because this job is just a transition for me”. (P12) Only one worker stated that he genuinely likes the job and the selected platform and sees themselves working for it indefinitely: “I work for this platform because I want to and because I genuinely enjoy it, not because I have to or because I have no alternatives. I would continue to work for it even if I were CEO of my own company.” (P14) While we cannot comment on concrete turnover rates in the Slovenian food delivery platform sector, as this data is not available, our interviews show that platform work is still not considered a long-term career option for the majority of participants. This is unsurprising due to the uncertainty of platform work. 5 Discussion Our findings show that platform delivery workers exhibit a certain degree of loyalty towards the platform they work. When it comes to their sense of ownership, many of them feel as if the platform has given them a lot, as it allows them to better coordinate their job with their personal Izzivi prihodnosti / Challenges of the Future, Članek / Article Avgust / August 2024, leto / year 9, številka / number 3, str. / pp. 190–205. 200 life. This appreciation of the freedom and autonomy offered by digital labour platforms are the most valued aspects of this work form in other research as well (such as Goods et al., 2019; Švagan, 2023; Xu & Liu, 2021). Moreover, platform workers in our study exhibit relatively high levels of trust, which is surprising, since existing literature often shows low trust levels between platform workers and the platform. For example, an empirical study with 35 Uber drivers in Paris showed the presence of mistrust between Uber and its workers, which potentially stems from the replacement of human supervisors with algorithmic control mechanisms (Wentrup et al., 2019). This finding shows that there is a significant amount of cross-platform variation in terms of working conditions and workers’ perception of their platform job. Lastly, our findings show that despite the fact the workers show some degree of loyalty towards their platform, they mostly do not intend to stay working for it indefinitely. In addressing the central research question of our paper, whether employee loyalty exists within the context of platform work, our findings reveal a complex reality. Despite the precarious nature of their jobs, platform food delivery workers do exhibit a certain degree of loyalty towards the platform they work for. This is manifested through various behaviours, but mostly through the fact that workers predominantly speak positively of their chosen platform, that they actively recommend it to their peers and express a relatively high level of trust in its operations. On the other hand, food delivery couriers do not seem to have a strong intention to stay working for their platform, which could be attributed to the physically demanding and often dangerous nature of the job (Christie et al., 2019) and to financial and social insecurity, which are common across different types of platform work (Berg, 2016; Xu et al., 2021). Existing literature highlights the importance of employee loyalty, emphasizing its benefits for both workers and organisations. Studies show that loyalty not only helps businesses by reducing turnover and boosting productivity but also enhances employee satisfaction and morale – these findings apply to platform work as well. Companies who wish to retain their workers should not only analyse their retention and turnover rates, as these give no insight into the workers’ intention to stay – it is employee loyalty that ensures the workforce stays at an organisation (Dutta et al., 2021). More importantly, we argue that employee loyalty has benefits for the working conditions of platform workers. This is due to the fact that loyalty has the potential to, as can be observed in empirical studies presented above, decrease turnover rates in platform work, which is currently one of the main inhibiting factors to collective organisation of platform workers (Johnston et al., 2018), especially combined with the workers’ lack of financial resources (Porta et al., 2022). This social fragmentation affects all types of platform work in terms of skill level and work location (online or location-based) (Porta et al., 2022), and can be observed in our interviews as well. Despite the benefits of employee loyalty presented in this paper, however, we must also emphasize its potential negative repercussions for workers, which are, although rarely, Izzivi prihodnosti / Challenges of the Future, Članek / Article Avgust / August 2024, leto / year 9, številka / number 3, str. / pp. 190–205. 201 documented in some studies (Meschke, 2021). These show that loyal employees are, in some situations, more likely to be taken advantage of due to their willingness and inclination to make personal sacrifices for their employer (Stanley et al., 2023). Stanley et al. (2023, p. 1) also show that workers who consent to the exploitation are more likely to obtain a reputation for loyalty, and how “these links between loyalty and exploitation have the potential to create a vicious circle of suffering”. 6 Conclusion Our qualitative study shows that despite the precarious, transient, and short-term nature of the job, platform food delivery workers express some degree of employee loyalty towards the platform they work for. This is mostly observed in how positively they speak of the platform, and how much they trust it. However, their loyalty does not extend to long-term commitment to working for the platform. The findings are significant as they contribute to the academic discourse on the platform economy and labour dynamics by showing how employee loyalty can develop under conditions typically characterised as poor. This challenges prevailing theories that associate employee loyalty with long-term employment stability and comprehensive worker benefits and provides a foundation for digital labour platforms to explore workforce retention strategies. However, limitations to this study must be considered. They mostly relate to the fact that the sample is relatively small and includes exclusively food delivery couriers operating in Slovenia. This limits the generalisability of the findings, as platform work conditions, which heavily influence employee loyalty, vary according to national legislation. As this is one of the first studies to explore the phenomenon of employee loyalty in the context of platform work, the opportunities for future research are abundant. Future studies could analyse how the structural features of platform work impact employee loyalty, such as payment schemes, work flexibility, and job security. Researchers could also investigate the role of interpersonal relationships and community building among platform workers and how these factors influence loyalty. Additionally, comparative studies between traditional employment and platform-based work could provide insights into the unique loyalty dynamics in each setting. Finally, exploring the effects of regulatory changes on worker loyalty could yield important findings, particularly in regions undergoing rapid policy evolution related to gig work. Izzivi prihodnosti / Challenges of the Future, Članek / Article Avgust / August 2024, leto / year 9, številka / number 3, str. / pp. 190–205. 202 References 1. Alvesson, M. (2000). Social Identity and the Problem of Loyalty in Knowledge-Intensive Companies. Journal of Management Studies, 37(8), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467- 6486.00218 2. Amoako, G. K., Dzogbenuku, R. K., & Kwadjo Kumi, D. (2021). Service Recovery and Loyalty of Uber Sharing Economy: The Mediating Effect of Trust. Research in Transportation Business & Management, 41(5), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2022.104442 3. Andriani, N. Y. (2023). The Effect of Compensation on Employee Loyalty. Jurnal EMA, 1(1), 85– 114. https://ip2i.org/jip/index.php/ema/article/view/32 4. Astrov, V., Leitner, S., Grieveson, R., Hanzl-Weiss, D., Mara, I., & Vidovic, H. (2021). How Do Economies in EU-CEE Cope with Labour Shortages?. The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies. https://wiiw.ac.at/how-do-economies-in-eu-cee-cope-with-labour-shortages- dlp-5641.pdf 5. Auer Antončič, J., & Antončič, B. (2011). Employee Loyalty And Its Impact On Firm Growth. International Journal of Management & Information Systems, 15(1), 81-88. https://doi.org/10.19030/ijmis.v15i1.1598 6. Behl, A., Sheorey, P., Jain, K., Chavan, M., Jajodia, I., & Zhang, Z. (2021). Gamifying the Gig: Transitioning the Dark Side to Bright Side of Online Engagement. Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 25(1), 1–34. https://journal.acs.org.au/index.php/ajis/article/view/2979 7. Berg, J. (2016). Income Security in the On-Demand Economy: Findings and Policy Lessons from a Survey of Crowdworkers. Comparative Labor Law & Policy Journal, 37(3), 1-26. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2740940 8. Bove, L. L., & Johnson, L. W., (2002). Predicting Personal Loyalty to a Service Worker. Australasian Marketing Journal, 10(1), 24–35. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1441-3582(02)70141-9 9. Bove, L. L., & Johnson, L.W., (2006). Customer Loyalty to One Service Worker: Should It Be Discouraged?. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 23(1), 79–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.IJRESMAR.2006.01.007. 10. Braun, V., and Clarke, V. (2006). Using Thematic Analysis in Psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235356393_Using_thematic_analysis_in_psychology 11. Christie, N., & Ward, H. (2019). The Health and Safety Risks for People Who Drive for Work in the Gig Economy. Journal of Transport and Health, 13(1), 115–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2019.02.007. 12. Creswell, J. W. (2009). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. 13. Cuong, D. T. (2023). The Best Model for Determinants Impacting Employee Loyalty. Artificial Intelligence Application in Networks and Systems Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, 114- 124. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35314-7_11 14. Davidson, A., Gleim, M. R., Johnson, C. M., & Stevens, J.L. (2023). Gig Worker Typology and Research Agenda: Advancing Research for Frontline Service Providers. Journal of Service Theory and Practice, 33(5), 647–670. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSTP-08-2022-0188 15. Dutta, T., & Swati D. (2021). Employee Loyalty: Measurement and Validation. Global Business Review, 0(0), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1177/0972150921990809 Izzivi prihodnosti / Challenges of the Future, Članek / Article Avgust / August 2024, leto / year 9, številka / number 3, str. / pp. 190–205. 203 16. Elegido, J. M. (2013). Does It Make Sense to Be a Loyal Employee? Journal of Business Ethics, 116(3), 495–511. https://doi.org/10.1007/S10551-012-1482-4/METRICS 17. Gibbs, G. R. (2007). Analyzing qualitative data. SAGE Publications, Ltd, https://doi.org/10.4135/9781849208574 18. Gleim, M. R., Johnson, C. M., & Lawson, S. J. (2019). Sharers and Sellers: A Multi-Group Examination of Gig Economy Workers’ Perceptions. Journal of Business Research, 98(1), 142– 152. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.01.041 19. Goods, C., Veen, A., & Barratt, T. (2019). »Is Your Gig Any Good?« Analysing Job Quality in the Australian Platform-Based Food-Delivery Sector. Journal of Industrial Relations, 61(4), 502– 527. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022185618817069 20. Hauben, H., Lenaerts, K., & Wayaert, W. (2020). The Platform Economy and Precarious Work. Publication for the committee on Employment and Social Affairs, Policy Department for Economic, Scientific and Quality of Life Policies, European Parliament, Luxembourg. 21. Huang, H. (2022). Algorithmic Management in Food-Delivery Platform Economy in China. New Technology, Work and Employment, 38(2), 185-205. https://doi.org/10.1111/ntwe.12228 22. Huang, I. C., Lin, H. C., & Chuang, C. S. (2006). Constructing Factors Related to Worker Retention. International Journal of Manpower, 27(5), 491–508. https://doi.org/10.1108/01437720610683976 23. Johnston, H., & Land-Kazlauskas, C. (2018). Organizing On-Demand: Representation, Voice, and Collective Bargaining in the Gig Economy. ILO Conditions of Work and Employment Series No. 94 24. Koch, J. L., & Steers, R. M. (1978). Job Attachment, Satisfaction, and Turnover among Public Sector Employees. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 12(1), 119–128. https://doi.org/10.1016/0001- 8791(78)90013-1 25. Krzywdzinski, M., & Gerber, C. (2021). Between Automation and Gamification: Forms of Labour Control on Crowdwork Platforms. Work in the Global Economy, 1(1–2), 161–184. https://doi.org/10.1332/273241721X16295434739161 26. Lahkar Das, B., & Mukulesh, B. (2013). Employee Retention: A Review of Literature. IOSR Journal of Business and Management, 14(2), 8–16. https://iosrjournals.org/iosr-jbm/papers/Vol14- issue2/B01420816.pdf 27. Lin, C. S., Hsu, C. L., & Chen, M. C. (2015). Determinants of Customer Loyalty for Home Delivery. International Journal of Logistics Systems and Management 22(2), 125–54. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJLSM.2015.071539 28. Linz, S., Good, L. K., & Busch, M. (2015). Promoting Worker Loyalty: An Empirical Analysis. International Journal of Manpower, 36(2), 169–91. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJM-06-2013- 0129/FULL/PDF 29. Maffie, M. D. (2023). Becoming a Pirate: Independence as an Alternative to Exit in the Gig Economy. British Journal of Industrial Relations, 61(1), 46–67. https://doi.org/10.1111/BJIR.12668 30. Martensen, A., & Grønholdt, L. (2006). Internal Marketing: A Study of Employee Loyalty, Its Determinants and Consequences. Innovative Marketing, 2(4), 92-116, https://www.businessperspectives.org/images/pdf/applications/publishing/templates/article/assets/ 1784/im_en_2006_04_Martensen.pdf 31. Meschke, S. (2021). Employee Loyalty: Intercultural Comparison of European and East Asian Approaches. Springer. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-68425-9 Izzivi prihodnosti / Challenges of the Future, Članek / Article Avgust / August 2024, leto / year 9, številka / number 3, str. / pp. 190–205. 204 32. Moon, K., Prashant, L., Bergemann, P., & Cohen, J. (2022). The Hidden Cost of Worker Turnover: Attributing Product Reliability to the Turnover of Factory Workers. Management science, 68(3), 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2022.4311 33. Mousa, M., & Chaouali, W. (2023). Job Crafting, Meaningfulness and Affective Commitment by Gig Workers towards Crowdsourcing Platforms. Personnel Review, 52(5), 1597–1611. https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-07-2021-0495 34. Patton, Michael Quinn. 2014. Qualitative Research & Evaluation Method. Sage Publications. 35. Phuong, T. T. K., and Vinh, T. T. (2020). Job Satisfaction, Employee Loyalty and Job Performance in the Hospitality Industry: A Moderated Model. Asian Economic and Financial Review, 10(6), 698–713. https://doi.org/10.18488/journal.aefr.2020.106.698.713 36. Porta, D., Chesta, R. E., & Cini, L. (2022). Challenges to Collective Action in Digital Work. In D. Porta, R. E. Chesta, L. Cini (Eds.), Labour Conflicts in the Digital Age (pp. 51-71). Policy Press Scholarship Online. https://doi.org/10.1332/policypress/9781529228243.003.0003 37. Seetharaman, B., Pal, J., & Hui, J. (2021). Delivery Work and the Experience of Social Isolation. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 5, 1-17. https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3449138 38. Sidharta, S. M., Adityo, D. B., Iqbal, M. P., & Gunadi W. (2021). Customer Loyalty Analysis on Online Food Delivery Services. Turkish Journal of Computer and Mathematics Education, 12(3), 4003-4013. https://turcomat.org/index.php/turkbilmat/article/view/1690/1436 39. Stanley, M. L., Neck, C. B., & Neck, C. P. (2023). Loyal Workers Are Selectively and Ironically Targeted for Exploitation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 106(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2022.104442 40. Švagan, B. (2023). Understanding the Paradox of High Job Quality Evaluations among Platform Workers. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 10(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-02477-1 41. Ton, Z., & Huckman, R. S. (2008). Managing the Impact of Employee Turnover on Performance: The Role of Process Conformance. Organization Science, 19(1), 56–68. https://doi.org/10.1287/ORSC.1070.0294 42. Vuong, B. N., Tung, D. D., Tushar, H., Quan, T. N., & Giao, H. N. K., (2021). Determinates of Factors Influencing Job Satisfaction and Organizational Loyalty. Management Science Letters, 11(2), 203–212. https://doi.org/10.5267/J.MSL.2020.8.014 43. Wentrup, R., Nakamura, R. H., & Ström, P. (2019). Uberization in Paris – the Issue of Trust between a Digital Platform and Digital Workers. Critical Perspectives on International Business, 15(1), 20–41. https://doi.org/10.1108/CPOIB-03-2018-0033/FULL/PDF 44. Wood, A. J., Graham, M., Lehdonvirta, V., & Hjorth, I. (2019). Good Gig, Bad Gig: Autonomy and Algorithmic Control in the Global Gig Economy. Work, Employment and Society, 33(1), 56– 75. https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017018785616 45. Xu, Y., and Liu, D. (2021). Decent Work for the Digital Platform Workers. A Preliminary Survey in Beijing. Digital Law Journal, 2(1), 48–63. https://doi.org/38044/2686-9136-2021-2-1-48-63 46. Yee, R. W. Y., Yeung, A. C. L., & Cheng, T. C. E. (2010.) An Empirical Study of Employee Loyalty, Service Quality and Firm Performance in the Service Industry. International Journal of Production Economics, 124(1), 109–20. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.IJPE.2009.10.015. 47. Yin, R. K. (2014). Case Study Research Design and Methods. 5th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA. Sage. Izzivi prihodnosti / Challenges of the Future, Članek / Article Avgust / August 2024, leto / year 9, številka / number 3, str. / pp. 190–205. 205 48. Zhang, Y. D., & Liu, M. J. (2020). Analysis of the Influencing Factors of Enterprise Management on Employee Loyalty in Gig Economy. International Conference on Wireless Communications and Smart Grid (ICWCSG), 331-334. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICWCSG50807.2020.00076 *** Barbara Švagan is a young researcher at the Faculty of management, University of Primorska. Her research is primarily focused on the future of work and the platform economy. *** Povzetek: Zvestoba zaposlenih v platformni ekonomiji: Ali obstaja? Raziskovalno vprašanje (RV): V tem članku odgovarjamo na raziskovalno vprašanje, ali delavci na spletnih platformah gojijo občutek zvestobe do platforme, za katero delajo, kljub prehodni naravi te oblike dela, odsotnosti tradicionalnih zaposlitvenih ugodnosti in pogosto neosebnem odnosu med delavci in platformo. Namen: Namen tega članka je razširiti razpravo o zvestobi zaposlenih na kontekst platformnega dela, predvsem zaradi ključne vloge, ki jo ta koncept igra tako za organizacije kot za njihove delavce. Zvestoba zaposlenih pomaga organizacijam zadržati svojo delovno silo in se izogniti škodljivim posledicam, ki jih prinesejo obsežne menjave zaposlenih, hhkrati pa spodbuja občutek pripadnosti in izpolnjenosti med zaposlenimi. Metoda: Izvedli smo 20 poglobljenih polstrukturiranih intervjujev z dostavljavci hrane, ki delajo prek dveh platform za dostavo hrane, ki delujeta v Sloveniji (Wolt in Glovo). Rezultati: Naše ugotovitve kažejo, da platformni delavci izkazujejo nekatere znake pripadnosti svoji platformi (na primer, da o platformi govorijo pozitivno, jo aktivno priporočajo svojim znancem in kažejo razmeroma visoko raven zaupanja do nje), hkrati pa niso dovolj zvesti, da bi želeli z delom za platformno nadaljevati dolgoročno. Organizacija: Te ugotovitve so pomembne za trajnost platformega poslovnega modela, saj lahko pomagajo zmanjšati fluktuacije zaposlenih in posledično izboljšati doslednost in dobičkonosnost digitalnih platform za delo. Družba: Ugotovitve o zvestobi zaposlenih znotraj platformne ekonomije imajo potencial zmanjšati menjave zaposlenih, ki trenutno predstavljajo eno izmed največjih omejitev za sindikalno organiziranje v tem sektorju. Originalnost: To je eden prvih člankov, ki obravnava pojav zvestobe zaposlenih v kontekstu platformnega dela, saj avtorji ta koncept običajno raziskujejo v tradicionalnih zaposlitvenih odnosih. Članek prispeva k našemu razumevanju tega, ali lahko udeleženci na trgu dela razvijejo občutek zvestobe tudi do delodajalcev, ki svojim zaposlenim ponujajo suboptimalne delovne pogoje. Nadaljnje raziskovanje: V prihodnosti bi bila zelo koristna longitdinalna študija, ki bi lahko pojasnila kako se mnenja delavcev na spletnih platformah spreminjajo s časom. Ključne besede: zvestoba zaposlenih, platformno delo, platformna ekonomija, kakovost dela, dostava, prekarnost. Copyright (c) Barbara ŠVAGAN Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.