Absorbed in technology but digitally overloaded: Interplay effects on gig workers’ burnout and creativity

Technology has facilitated platform-mediated work, and individuals are often encouraged to engage with technology using various digital solutions. However, for platform workers, the use of technology can lead to digital overload, which may negatively impact their burnout and performance. In this paper, we examine the interplay between individuals’ cognitive absorption in technology and technology overload in predicting gig workers’ creative output. Using empirical data from 263 Amazon Mechanical Turk platform workers, we show that cognitive absorption positively predicts gig workers’ creativity. However, moderated-mediation analysis shows that in the case of high technology overload, cognitive absorption with technology leads to burnout and reduces creativity levels of the workers