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This chapter will introduce the concept of the gig economy. It begins with a brief discussion of technological changes and their impact on the workforce and labour market, demonstrating how the trend shifts towards the gig economy. It then examines the trends that are influencing this transformation and discusses various perspectives and the attractiveness of the gig economy for workers and businesses. This chapter will also discuss the gig economy, platform economy, digital platform, and gig worker categories. It concludes with a brief discussion of some of the opportunities, issues, and challenges associated with the gig economy.

This chapter examines prior studies on various types of knowledge, knowledge workers, and the knowledge economy. One must have a clear grasp of the function of knowledge workers and human capital in the knowledge economy and how the organisation should manage to gain from knowledge workers and their knowledge to prepare the organisation and economy for the knowledge economy. This chapter will go through many models, drivers, pillars, and requirements for the knowledge economy. The chapter will then finish with the essential aspects of the knowledge economy.

This chapter describes the workforce trends in developed and developing countries, depicts the changes, and provides a road map for countries seeking to become a hub for professional workers. The roadmap outlined the factors that countries should consider in their strategic planning to succeed as suppliers, transforming the country into a knowledge economy and a hub for professional gig workers. As discussed in Chapter 4, professional gig workers are knowledge workers who work and deliver tasks online, and they participate in professional knowledge-based online jobs. How to organise, train, and structure this skilled workforce to maximise economic growth, income, decrease unemployment, prevent outflow, and transform the country into a professional hub is a critical question that requires special attention from the government and industry players.

To manage workers in the gig economy, we must understand the various types of gig workers and how they perform. This chapter focuses on the many types of gig workers and how professional gig workers overlap with knowledge workers in the knowledge economy. The chapter will next go through the distinctions between the gig economy and the talent economy. This chapter will finish by examining the informal economy and its relationship to the gig economy.

In the previous chapters, we discussed the gig economy, knowledge economy, and its characteristics of each. The concept of knowledge workers is discussed in detail and their role in the knowledge economy and in creating knowledge. This chapter will explain how the knowledge economy and gig economy are connected and how the concept of knowledge workers and professional gig workers are connected. We will differentiate skilled gig workers from low-skilled workers and their role in economic development and productivity. Furthermore, we will explain their involvement in the organisation and how they can manage them and utilise their knowledge to increase productivity. The end of this chapter will discuss the platform economy concept and explain the platform economy's aspects in detail. This chapter emphasises how working globally is facilitated by digital transformation and IT infrastructure and how managing the professional workforce will create the opportunity to connect to a variety of job demands, particularly from developed countries.

This study aims at unpacking the multiplicity of the sitting activity in public spaces through the lens of actor-network theory. In line with previous urban research focussing on outdoor activities, such empirical investigation aims to show the importance of the physical aspects of spaces, including seating, in supporting sitting activities as a way of encouraging the use of public space.

This study adopts the overlap between actor–network theory and affordances. It utilises ethnographic research involving frequent users in Dahiyat Al Hussein Park in Amman-Jordan. Data were gathered on the different seat–user relations and the translated sitting activity networks.

Analysis demonstrates different cases of alignment, misalignment and realignment between what is intended and experienced, and where these relations are maintained, disrupted or changed. These findings reveal the multiplicity of sitting activities; this is significant for understanding how they are maintained.

The research suggests a new way of conceptualising the relationship between the physical environment and users and an approach for examining sitting activities. Some studies have applied actor–network theory and/or the concept of “affordance” by highlighting relations between the object and its user and how they create sitting activities. However, only few studies have problematised the multiplicity of sitting when considering seating uses.

This study aims to investigate the link between amotivation and workplace deviance. The authors further outlined how the relationship between amotivation and deviant behavior can be mitigated via proactive work strategies such as job crafting and career outcome expectations.

The authors conducted a convergent design, mixed-method study to investigate workplace deviance as an outcome of amotivation or the lack of motivation towards an activity. The quantitative data from cross-sectional surveys entailed 127 respondents. The qualitative data comprised of 25 in-depth interviews. The authors sought insights from individuals' lived experiences to understand how amotivated individuals behave at work.

The quantitative findings contended a significant relationship between amotivation and organizational deviance. The authors also found evidence for the buffering role of career outcome expectations on amotivation and deviance. Finally, avoidance job crafting has been shown to significantly attenuate the aforementioned relationship. The qualitative study identified three broader themes about amotivated individuals' work outcomes.

Amotivation can arise among individuals who feel trapped in a job they want to exit and can result in a range of dysfunctional outcomes including workplace deviance. While amotivated employees may be hard to flag, employers can keep such individuals from demonstrating workplace deviance through placing interventions such as job crafting and career development programs.

The existing literature on work motivation has predominantly overlooked the role of amotivation in determining employee outcomes. The current research generates a new line of inquiry by identifying workplace deviance as an outcome of amotivation. The authors further highlighted that such dysfunctional outcomes of amotivation can be mitigated by job crafting and career outcomes expectancies.