The careers of gig workers that work via platforms like Uber and Deliveroo are non-standard, precarious and hyper-flexible. They move from one short-term gig to the other and can be easily laid off. At the same time, as independent contractors, they learn to cope with the uncertainty that platform-based gig work creates. So far, little is known about the flexible careers in the novel context of the gig economy. By adopting a ‘career shock’ lens, the proposed research examines how gig workers experience a sudden disappearance/withdrawal of a platform they work with and which new/alternative job(s) they embark on afterwards.