(名詞) 公司企業以小額費用委外，尤其是委由第三世界勞工處理的簡短工作。亦寫成 micro-work 或 micro work。
說明：
在下面第一個引句中有個字值得加以說明，那就是 witkey。這個字是近年來在中國大陸興起的一個新詞彙，中文叫做「威客」，主要是指一群透過網路平台將自己的知識、技能、專長、經驗等傳授給別人來換取實際經濟收益的人。在威客當中，以一般文稿工作者、廣告設計師、程式設計師所佔的比例較大，因為這類工作通常比較短期，按件完成，容易整體外包，而且工作時間靈活。
有些人還提出了「威客理論」等等，聲稱找到了一種新的網際網路模式，將引導網際網路發生一場新革命，而且這是中國首創的。但實際上，這只是自由職業者或高級諮詢顧問透過網路平台來尋找項目進行交易的一種現象，在歐美已經頗為普遍。
引句：
This has developed into a new line of business for Amazon, called Mechanical Turk, which brings together people seeking online piecework with employers looking to farm out tasks. The infoDev report reckons there are now around 100 such online labour exchanges: there's now a word for them in Chinese, witkey. Some crowdsourced tasks are long and complex, and require special skills. But many are simple and quick, and the software tools needed to perform them are provided for the worker—this sort of task is known as "microwork".
—"Jobs of the future," The Economist, April 7, 2011
Microwork gives marginalized people a chance to earn a living by playing a vital role in the business processes of big companies. In parallel, the organization assists local entrepreneurs in running microwork centers, helping to grow a new pool of business talent across the developing world.
—Leila Janah Charyath, quoted in Jason-Louise Graham, "Human Intelligence is a Green Export: An Interview with Samasource's Leila Janah," Examiner.com, April 10, 2011
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