Hunger for profit: how food delivery platforms manage couriers in China

Abstract

How do food delivery platform firms, such as Meituan (operated by Tencent) and Ele.me (owned by Alibaba), manage couriers through service contracting rather than formal employment? How do couriers experience control and autonomy at work? Using observation and interviews, the author finds that a combination of data-driven surveillance systems and customer feedback mechanisms are incentivizing workers’ efforts. Corporate utilization of both manual and emotional labor is critical to realizing profits. Individual freedom is framed in a way that crowdsourced couriers are not required to work a minimum amount of time. Flexibility enabled by the algorithmic management, however, cuts both ways. When there is less demand, the platform corporations automatically reduce their dependence on labor. With variable food orders and piece rates, workers’ minimum earnings are not guaranteed. In the absence of Chinese legal protections over the fast-growing food delivery sector, informal workers are desperately struggling for livelihood.◊

Effects of Job Demands and Resources on Positive and Negative Affect of Delivery Drivers in China

“…There is a multitude of reasons to explain occupation stress within this profession. First, studies show algorithmic management tools that monitor driver performance contribute to the growing labor intensity for delivery drivers and subsequently increase burnout and turnover rates amongst drivers [2,20]. For example, Zheng [11] found that 25% of food delivery drivers had already left their position at least once.…”

“…Third, workers' minimum earnings are not guaranteed, as the demand and supply of delivery drivers change frequently. When the demand for food delivery is low, demand for delivery drivers becomes low, which can cause some drivers to struggle financially, which adds undue stress [2]. Fourth, the COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated these poor work conditions by imposing increased health risks, job insecurity, and financial instability for many delivery drivers [9].…”

“…Given the consequences high JD can impose and its positive predictability of NA, employers of Chinese delivery drivers create efforts to reduce JD while increasing JR to mitigate NA. Given the importance of JR's buffering effects on JD, employers and coworkers need to promote a friendly and supportive work environment for their drivers to reduce risk of burnout and turnover amongst drivers [2,12,20]. Also, employers may utilize PANA as a key point of intervention for high JD employers by implementing several interventions and services to support PA and reduce NA.…”

“…As the digital economy has rapidly grown, China has seen considerable growth in its delivery sector within the past decade [1][2][3]. In 2011, the online-to-offline food market was worth 22.2 billion yuan (USD $3.4 billion) [4], and by 2020, it totaled approximately 665 billion yuan (USD $103 billion) [5].…”

“…However, these expanding labor markets have come with increasing work demands and work stress for delivery drivers [7][8][9][10][11]. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that delivery drivers experience fewer positive emotions and affect and more negative emotions and affect at their jobs [2,12]. Thus, it is critical to explore the effects of job demands (JD) and job resources (JR) on delivery drivers' health and well-being to be better equipped to support them as this industry continues to boom.…”