Managing Organizational Commitment among Gig Workers Strategies for Managing Loyalty and Work Quality among Freelance Partner Workers

The rapid growth of the platform economy has fundamentally restructured contemporary employment relationships, shifting labor from permanent organizational roles to flexible, task-based gig work. This shift introduces a profound managerial paradox: while gig workers value task autonomy and schedule flexibility, opaque algorithmic management, precariousness, and limited institutional support frequently diminish affective attachment and cause psychological contract breaches. Based on a literature-based synthesis of recent scholarly research (2022–2026), this article examines the conceptualization and management of organizational commitment, worker loyalty, and work quality among gig and freelance partner workers. Grounded in the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model, Social Exchange Theory, and the Digital Psychological Contract framework, the analysis reveals that commitment in fluid work settings is multidimensional and conditional. Continuance commitment is heavily driven by economic dependency and switching costs, whereas affective commitment and loyalty depend on perceived platform fairness, task discretion, and relational support. Furthermore, work quality and retention intentions are strongly mediated by job satisfaction and work engagement, which are activated when platforms provide technological support, work-life balance initiatives, and peer social networks. To sustain work quality and partner retention, organizations must move beyond transactional oversight toward inclusive e-HRM practices, algorithmic transparency, explainable evaluation systems, and virtual community-building mechanisms.