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Reading a report on the “gig-economy” came across this quote from the CEO of CrowdFlower, a co. in crowdwork: “Before the Internet, it would be really difficult to find someone, sit them down for 10 minutes & get them to work for you, and then fire them after those 10 minutes... https://twitter.com/msimbu777/status/1294126619355832321
But with tech, you can actually find them, pay them the tiny amount of money, and then get rid of them when you don’t need them anymore.” (quoted by Marvit, 2014) this is a simple way of explaining how the gig-economy actually works, lays bare the violence endemic to this system
the term 'gig economy' is deeply confusing, when you think abt it, masks the range & types of labour that gets covered under its ambit - Is a coder doing a technical project for an overseas firm on the same plane as a delivery person from Swiggy or a beautician from UrbanClap?
crowdwork req. technical skills & platform-based work in the service sector play have completely diff rules of the game - in the latter, the diff. in power is so great, it is necessary to safeguard labour power and gigs in this case is often a misclassification of employment.
But what's more dangerous about the 'gig economy' is the extreme commodification of work & in extension the commodification of the worker - virtual transactions hide the human labour - the delivery person a mere step in the process - the pursuit of efficiency is dehumanising.
A couple of clicks on the screen, and a human being appears at the door, with food or for delivery, to clean your house or wax your legs - the expectations from these workers, subject to rigid behavioural guidelines and a rating system that dictates their ability to find work -
is of providing service without a hitch, silently and w Covid no-contact deliveries, even invisibly. It's changing our behaviour - I notice it with alarm in myself when I start tap tapping my foot, if it takes more than 25 min to deliver - this luxury springs from exploitation
capitalism itself is an economic system rooted in exploitation, vampiric in nature, seeks to exhaust all that the worker can offer in their best years through consistent + constant wage slavery, for a pittance - social security is but a measly safeguard in return for employment
the "gig-economy" then is turbo-charged exploitation, the worker doesn't matter beyond the instance of the work, what happens during such work - health & safety, protection from sexual harassment, insurance, forget maternity leave - system is inherently sexist - does not figure
one of the starkest parallels drawn to explain the gig economy I read is via Le Guin's The ones who walk away from Omelas, a utopian city with a caveat: its orderliness, joyfulness & beauty requires a single child is kept in misery, darkness and despair. https://www.redpepper.org.uk/gig-work-in-the-coronavirus-crisis/
a techpolicy researcher friend noted in conversation that the innovation in the gig economy is in traditionally underpaid, precarious sectors - taxi, delivery, domestic work - it contributes to the informalisation of the formal economy - excludes workers from social + labour nets
the digital platform-based econ (the more apt term) is hardly innovative, rather a tech extension of the causualisation of work (re: contract labour) already underway due to globalisation & demutualisation of risk whereby major risks of the business are transferred to the worker
the only innovative thing about the gig economy imo is the ways in which companies wanna screw workers out of even bare minimum safety nets labour laws confer - which appears quite in line w neoliberalism, the uber-vamp of systems (Turok-Han for Buffy fans), our reigning ideology
But workers are organising - steps to target misclassification of employment are underway - the test being is the platform's existence dependent on the worker - do they perform activities in the course of the business - California had recent litigation https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/10/21362460/uber-lyft-drivers-employees-california-court-ruling
An aside, if anyone has read NYT article by the Uber CEO that Uber had to "do better" - you get why now - since the Cali ruling requires Uber + Lyft to reclassify drivers as employees, instead of changing their fundamentally exploitative business models, gig cos want special laws
"A spl. law for gig economy" - striking a balance b/n labour rights & company greed - might seem appealing (a liberal wet dream) - but it will merely entrench misclassification, reinforce the notion that gig econ is a low-cost substitute, lead to greater informalisation of work
already happening in India, amidst countless human rights horrors, there's also a quiet overhaul of our entire labour law regime (note, fascism 
neoliberalism) - not only is labour power being weakened, they're creating a category for gig econ, self-plug https://vidhilegalpolicy.in/blog/covid-19-calls-for-re-thinking-social-security-for-indias-platform-workers/
neoliberalism) - not only is labour power being weakened, they're creating a category for gig econ, self-plug https://vidhilegalpolicy.in/blog/covid-19-calls-for-re-thinking-social-security-for-indias-platform-workers/
There is no way to understand this nor counteract it until and UNLESS we expose a pervasive + corrosive myth that neoliberals have successfully peddled - that 'regulation' is bad. NO, ITS NOT.
Deregulation has 0 demonstrable +ve impact on growth, employment, innovation, contrary
Deregulation has 0 demonstrable +ve impact on growth, employment, innovation, contrary
people who use platform-based apps need to inform themselves of the conditions that gig workers are subject to + what they've been dealing with - there's been renewed attention re Covid, but this atrocious situation preceded the pandemic https://bengaluru.citizenmatters.in/bengaluru-gig-economy-workers-rights-wages-precarity-formalisation-covid-46679
