Fluid workers and fluid work arrangements in the age of digital technologies

Purpose-This editorial introduces the concept of fluid work and synthesizes the contributions of a Special Issue examining how digitally enabled fluid work arrangements are transforming employment, work and management. It aims to clarify the conceptual boundaries of fluid work, integrate fragmented research streams and identify implications for theory, practice and policy. Design/methodology/approach-The editorial reviews and synthesizes 12 Special Issue contributions. It also conducts a bibliographic coupling analysis of the papers' reference lists to identify their shared intellectual foundations and thematic connections. Findings-Fluid work is not a discrete employment category but a multidimensional reconfiguration of how labor is attached, coordinated, evaluated and experienced. The findings reveal systematic ambivalence: flexibility may coexist with precarity, autonomy with algorithmic control and supervisory oversight with enhanced performance under supportive relational conditions. Outcomes depend on configurations of governance mechanisms, institutional protections, social resources and worker characteristics. Originality/value-The editorial advances the conceptualization of fluid work by providing its definition, delineating its key dimensions and clarifying its relationship with digitalization and artificial intelligence, while examining its implications for workers, work practices and organizations.