Care in the Platform Economy

Tandon, Ambika; Rathi, Aayush

doi:10.4324/9781003140054-6

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…Meanwhile, there is growing evidence that migrant workers likewise provide a large share of the labour power driving gig platforms in cities ranging from New York to Paris and from Bogotá to Cape Town (Alderman, 2019;Bandeira, 2019;Dzieza, 2021). Even in India and China, countries with huge domestic labour markets, it is primarily domestic migrants 1 who provide key gig economy services such as ride-hailing, domestic and care work, and food delivery in major cities (Chen and Qiu, 2019;Raval, 2020;Tandon and Rathi, 2021). Thus, it increasingly seems likely that, without a continuous influx of migrants, platform companies would have trouble maintaining their labour supply in many of their key markets across the globe.…”

Section: Introduction: Platform Labour Is Predominantly Migrant Labourmentioning

confidence: 99%

Migration and Migrant Labour in the Gig Economy: An Intervention

Doorn

Ferrari

Graham

2022

Work, Employment and Society

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In urban gig economies around the world, platform labour is predominantly migrant labour, yet research on the intersection of the gig economy and labour migration remains scant. Our experience with two action research projects, spanning six cities on four continents, has taught us how platform work impacts the structural vulnerability of migrant workers. This leads us to two claims that should recalibrate the gig economy research agenda. First, we argue that platform labour simultaneously degrades working conditions while offering migrants much-needed opportunities to improve their livelihoods. Second, we contend that the reclassification of gig workers as employees is by itself not sufficient to counter the precarisation of migrant gig work. Instead, we need ambitious policies at the intersection of immigration, social welfare, and employment regulation that push back against the digitally mediated commodification of migrant labour worldwide.

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Section: Introduction: Platform Labour Is Predominantly Migrant Labourmentioning

confidence: 99%

Migration and Migrant Labour in the Gig Economy: An Intervention

Doorn

Ferrari

Graham

2022

Work, Employment and Society

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“…In terms of other facets of platformisation, such as increasing surveillance, the extraction of data and the production of performance metrics (Blumenfeld et al, 2020;Tandon & Rathi, 2021), 59 per cent of those required to use a smartphone had an app installed that assigns them tasks, monitors their performance, processes leave and/or tracks their location. Again, this indicates platformisation defined as "the extension of the digital practices associated with online platforms to other sectors" Huws et al (2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Another complicating factor in the definition of gig work is the process of platformisation, which Huws et al (2019) define as "the extension of the digital practices associated with online platforms to other sectors" (p. 8). In other words, traditional forms of work are progressively taking on the characteristics of gig work with increasing use of online platforms, apps and smartphones (Bearson et al, 2021;Casilli & Posada, 2019), particularly for already marginalised and underpaid frontline workers such as care work (Salter et al, 2023;Tandon & Rathi, 2021). The technologies often come with the capacity for the close surveillance of workers (Nguyen, 2021), along with facilitating independent contractor status (Huws et al, 2019).…”

Section: Rq2: What Evidence Is There Of Online Side Hustles Among You...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards the platformisation of employment in post-pandemic Aotearoa New Zealand? Evidence from the Future Worlds of Work survey

Salter

2023

NZJER

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It has been widely recognised in the international literature that the impacts of the pandemic on workers have been experienced unevenly, most severely affecting women, minorities, and those on insecure contracts. At the same time, Covid-19 has accelerated technologically driven developments such as platform work and online freelancing. To provide evidence for these shifts in Aotearoa New Zealand, a survey (n=570) was completed by a sample aged over 18 and employed in the previous 12 months. The survey found uneven experiences of pandemic-related disruption, particularly for those in insecure forms of work, Māori, and frontline workers in hospitality and retail. Further, there was evidence for the emergence of a culture of “digital hustling” among younger people, who are seeking supplementary forms of income from the online world, while 43 per cent of respondents with an employment agreement were required to use a smartphone as part of their job. I use these findings to develop the concept of platformisation, capturing broad impacts of digital technology on workplaces, together with trends towards precarity and individual responsibility. The results have implications for public policy analyses of a “tight labour market” which can negate the unevenly felt effects of an economic slowdown.

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New tech, old exploitation: Gig economy, algorithmic control and migrant labour

2022

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Digital platforms are the newest technological wave that is reshaping and reconfiguring the economic and labour landscape. Digital platforms often known as the gig economy are increasingly adopting app-based models to connect consumers with workers to complete their on-demand tasks.However, on-demand platforms continue to rely on the unequal division of labour and the precarious nature of the work to create labour markets that can respond accordingly to the increase in service provision. This review highlights two main themes that have emerged within the on-demand gig economy in the current literature-mythical autonomy and algorithmic control and misclassification of labour and the complexity of migrant workers in navigating this space.Finally, this review calls for further research into the inside/ outside dichotomy of migrant labour within the gig economy and their experiences of labour exploitation through app-based digital platforms.

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Care in the Platform Economy

Cited by 4 publications

References 0 publications

Migration and Migrant Labour in the Gig Economy: An Intervention

Migration and Migrant Labour in the Gig Economy: An Intervention

Towards the platformisation of employment in post-pandemic Aotearoa New Zealand? Evidence from the Future Worlds of Work survey

New tech, old exploitation: Gig economy, algorithmic control and migrant labour

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