Living a calling despite the challenges of the gig economy? The role of meaning-making and work alienation

This article aims to shed light on the diverse career experiences of gig workers by investigating the relationship between gig work challenges and living a calling. Drawing from the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) theory and the Work as Calling Theory (WCT), we conceptualize gig work challenges as hindrance demands which can potentially undermine individuals' sense of living a calling through a health impairment process mediated by work alienation. Beyond that, we look at meaning-making as a personal resource that can buffer negative effects of hindrance demands for living a calling. In a three-wave time-lagged sample of 723 gig workers that work through online labor platforms (OLPs), we investigated the relationship between gig work challenges and living a calling. We found that gig work challenges were negatively related to living a calling. This relationship was fully mediated by work alienation. Furthermore, we found that meaning-making buffered the effect of these challenges on living a calling through work alienation. The results support the idea that hindrance demands are negatively related to living a calling and that the way individuals cope with hindrances plays an important role in maintaining a sense of living a calling. We discuss the implications of these findings for the WCT and reflect on its relevance for our understanding of subjective career success in the context of the gig economy. • Investigated the relationship between gig work challenges and living a calling • Gig work challenges were negatively related to living a calling • The relationship between gig work challenges and living a calling was fully mediated by work alienation • Engaging in meaning making weakened the negative relationship between gig work challenges and work alienation • Engaging in meaning making also weakened the indirect relationship between gig work challenges and living a calling