Digital Taylorism and off-job cognition: Perceived algorithmic control, work-related rumination, and turnover intention among food delivery couriers

Background Digital labor platforms use algorithms to monitor and evaluate work, combining scheduling flexibility with algorithmic control in a form of digital Taylorism. Such control has been linked to burnout and turnover intention, but its association with work-related cognition during non-work time remains unclear. Objective This study examines how perceived algorithmic control relates to couriers’ intention to leave a food delivery platform, including indirect associations through three forms of off-job cognition. Methods Grounded in Job Demands–Resources theory, the study uses cross-sectional survey data from 286 platform-based food delivery couriers in Türkiye. Structural equation modeling tested associations, with bootstrap intervals for indirect associations. Results Stronger perceived algorithmic control was associated with higher affective rumination and problem-solving pondering and lower psychological detachment. Turnover intention was positively associated with affective rumination and negatively with detachment, while problem-solving pondering showed no significant association. The total indirect association was significant through affective rumination and detachment, but not problem-solving pondering. A significant direct association remained. Conclusions Perceived algorithmic control was associated with distinct forms of off-job cognition, particularly greater affective rumination and lower psychological detachment. Its association with turnover intention appears more closely related to negative work-related thinking and impaired detachment than to solution-focused thinking.