Only 23% of Wolt couriers have heard about EU's Platform Work Directive – pan-European study shows platform workers know what they want, but are not being heard

> Taloustutkimus, one of the largest market research companies in the Nordics and part of the World Independent Network of Market Research, carried out a survey in 15 countries across Europe to help understand how people working as couriers feel about the proposed law.

> The results reveal an alarming gap between policymakers and platform workers, as only 23% have heard about the EU's initiative and less than half feel their opinions and thoughts are heard by the policymakers.

> A significant majority (88%) agreed the new law should protect the freedom of platform workers to choose when they work, which tasks to accept and their ability to freely work for any company. 78% would consider quitting platform work if they were forced into employment without the current flexibility.

> Four out of five (83%) respondents saw that the new law should allow platforms to provide better protections and benefits – such as insurance – to their partners, while 75% agreed the law should improve the protections for the self-employed, for example, through collective bargaining rights.

Helsinki, Finland | May 10, 2023 – Technology company Wolt announced survey results that shed light on what its courier partners think about their work and the EU’s Platform Work Directive. Carried out between February and March this year by one of the largest market research companies in the Nordics, Taloustutkimus, the survey received 6,811 answers from platform workers in 15 EU member states.

“We see the EU’s initiative as a great opportunity to bring long-awaited clarity across Europe and improve platform work for everyone. To be a success, the law needs to reflect what platform workers themselves want,” says Samuel Laurinkari, VP of Public Policy at Wolt.

“The results from the survey clearly show that courier partners want to be able to decide when and how to work, and that many would consider quitting without this flexibility. They also suggest that forcing couriers into rigid employment relationships against their will is not the right way to ensure access to better protections,” he continues.

The results indicate that freedom and flexibility that come with being self-employed are important to platform workers, and that a majority of the respondents prefer them over the security that comes with being an employee.

When it comes to the Platform Work Directive specifically, couriers hope that the law protects their freedom while unlocking better protections and benefits for the self-employed workers.

The results do not support a view that couriers would want to become employed – especially if it meant losing their current freedom. 

According to Laurinkari, the most alarming finding was the disconnection between policymakers and platform workers. Only 23% say they knew about the Platform Work Directive before the survey, while less than half feel they are heard by the policymakers.

“We hope the insights we’ve shared encourage policymakers to close the gap between them and platform workers. There’s still plenty of time to get them more involved in the legislative process, but they have to act now”, Laurinkari says.

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The survey in short:

– The aim was to understand how Wolt courier partners in the EU feel about the proposed Platform Work Directive and about platform work in general.

– Taloustutkimus carried out the survey between February and March, 2023. The method for the study was online interviews. Taloustutkimus programmed the survey questionnaires, and Wolt sent the survey links to the couriers. All responses were saved and filed in Taloustutkimus’s server directly.

– The survey was sent out to couriers who had made at least one Wolt delivery in the past three months in Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Sweden. Everybody had an equal possibility to answer the survey and their responses were anonymous. It received 6,811 responses.