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“Jobs on the Internet” can mean either finding work online or doing paid work matched, assigned, or paid through a digital platform. Those are different things: applying for a regular job on a website does not make the job platform work, and platform work may take place in person rather than online.
What does “jobs on the Internet” mean?
The phrase is informal, not a single standardized labor-statistics category. It commonly refers to two activities:
- Searching for work online: finding vacancies, responding to job advertisements, or posting a résumé on a professional or social networking site.
- Platform-mediated work: doing paid work that a website or app helps match, assign, or pay.
The first describes how someone looks for a job; the second describes how paid work is arranged. Someone can apply online and then take a conventional job, while someone else can find a short task through an app and perform it as platform work.
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How is platform-mediated work defined?
Definitions vary by organization and jurisdiction, so statistics using the term should be read in context. The OECD describes online platform workers as people who use an app or website to match with customers for a paid service; that work may be a main occupation or supplemental income. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) focuses on short jobs or tasks found through a website or mobile app that connects workers directly with customers and arranges payment. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) describes fixed-duration labor services accessed through a digital platform and paid per unit of work delivered through it.
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The ABS cites the 19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS) 2013 definition of digital platform work as “any productive activity performed by persons to produce goods or provide services carried out through or on a digital platform”. The ABS also cites a 2022 UNECE description that distinguishes digital platform employment by the assignment of individual tasks rather than jobs. These definitions overlap, but their precise scope is not identical.
For its U.S. survey, the BLS described electronically mediated work as follows: “Some people find short, IN-PERSON tasks or jobs through companies that connect them directly with customers using a website or mobile app. These companies also coordinate payment for the service through the app or website.” The wording shows why the distinction is about how work is matched and paid—not simply whether a worker uses the Internet.
Are Internet jobs the same as work-from-home jobs?
No. “Internet job” is not a reliable synonym for remote work. Platform-mediated work can be done entirely online, such as web design, data entry, clerical work, surveys, or microtasks. It can also require a physical visit, such as transport, delivery, housekeeping, errands, or another customer service.
Likewise, a remote employee may have found a conventional job through an online listing without being a platform worker. To describe an opportunity accurately, separate how it is matched from where it is performed.
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When does using an app make work platform-mediated?
Using an app or website at work is not enough by itself. In the BLS concept, the site or app must connect a worker with customers or short tasks, and the platform company must pay the worker or arrange payment. A worker who uses an app only to navigate while doing a conventional job is not thereby doing electronically mediated work.
When evaluating a role, check these details:
- Matching: Does the website or app connect the worker to a customer or a specific task, or is it only a tool used after hiring?
- Payment: Does the platform pay or arrange payment, or does an employer pay through an ordinary employment arrangement?
- Location: Is the work done online, at a customer’s location, or in another physical setting?
- Work pattern: Is it a short task, a fixed-duration service, or an ongoing job?
- Role in the worker’s income: Is it a main occupation or supplemental work?
These questions help distinguish job searching, direct hiring, and platform matching without assuming that every platform worker has the same employment status. The sources describe variation in tasks and arrangements; they do not support treating all platform workers as self-employed.
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What do statistics about Internet jobs tell you?
There is no single current figure for everyone who has searched for work online or for all work that might informally be called an Internet job. Counts depend on the definition, survey questions, time period, and geography. The OECD notes that conventional labor surveys were not designed to capture online platform work, making estimates difficult; the BLS also noted that researchers had no generally accepted definition of “gig workers” or the “gig economy” in its 2018 discussion.
One useful but limited historical measure is the BLS estimate that electronically mediated workers accounted for 1.0 percent of total U.S. employment in May 2017. The BLS reported the estimate in 2018 after manually recoding data from its Contingent Worker Supplement because the survey questions initially produced many incorrect “yes” answers. It is a U.S.-specific estimate for that defined category and period—not a current global rate, nor the share of people who have ever looked for a job online.
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Sources and definitions
- OECD, Evolving business models: OECD Digital Economy Outlook 2020 (2020)
- Australian Bureau of Statistics, Labour Statistics: Concepts, Sources and Methods, 2023 (2023)
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Electronically mediated work: new questions in the Contingent Worker Supplement (September 28, 2018)
- OECD, The future of work: What do we know?: OECD Employment Outlook 2019 (2019)
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