While the gig economy offers flexibility and opportunities, it also presents significant challenges that need to be addressed to ensure the well-being of platform workers.
Experts say gig economy workers are less protected as more companies create benefits packages for self-employed workers.
Drivers that juggle driving with another job were more likely to run red lights and carry weapons, such as knives, for safety reasons. These behaviours pose risks not only to drivers, but also to the public.
(Paul Hanaoka/Unsplash)
A suite of protections for gig workers will be contained in legislation to be introduced into parliament next week, and will also include measures on rights for casual workers and stopping wage theft
TVO employees and supporters are seen on the picket line outside of TVO offices in Toronto on Aug. 21, 2023. Dozens of workers at TVO have walked off the job.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby
Although work in journalism has never been a safe bet, it’s now rife with deepening uncertainty. The TVO strike aimed at job security is a matter of public interest.
Since 2011, I’ve worked in more than 20 precarious workplaces in hospitality, manufacturing and logistics – and I have only seen a union once.
Waste management workers stand outside a waste processing plant in Bengaluru, India. By formalizing the waste collection process, the ‘I Got Garbage’ digital platform transformed waste workers into micro-entrepreneurs.
(Suchit Ahuja)
To focus on sustainable development goals, platforms need to change from being exclusively focused on profits and value appropriation to perceiving themselves as public goods.
Uber, which has operations in 72 countries, is a household name of the gig economy.
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Gig companies like Uber often promote the freedom that comes with independent contractor arrangements. They talk less about the impact that pay volatility can have on workers’ health.
A rally for Uber and Lyft drivers in 2019 reflects desire for workers to have same benefits as employees.
AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli
What a ‘gig worker’ is remains ill-defined, which can suit employers. But the spread of the gig economy means more workers don’t have the same rights and protections as employees.
Coffee shops can be a “third space” – not home or the office – where remote or gig workers can go to feel less isolated.
Granger Wootz/Tetra images via Getty Images
Gig workers navigate the challenges of solo work by seeking out relationships and cultivating skills to cope with emotional turbulence
Workers take on side hustles not just for the money, but also to compensate for limited control in their traditional jobs.
Jeff Greenberg via Universal Images Group/Getty Images
‘Career portfolioing’ is a trend where people assemble different sources of income, such as side gigs, to give them a measure of independence from employers who provide little job security.
Will precarious alternative forms of work, like gig platform jobs, become the norm for immigrant care workers?
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Alternative working arrangements like gig platforms might help immigrant workers find temporary work, but many care professionals are still unable to find permanent jobs in their industry.
Lower earners are counting the cost of a growing wage gap.
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The Uber Files leak reveals that the company embarked on a deliberate public relations strategy that involved the media, public officials and academics.
Protesting food delivery workers in São Paulo, Brazil.
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Digital platform work is often seen to suit workers’ skills, interests and schedules. But it comes at a cost to their economic security and control over the work process.
Our five years of research reveals an industry facing push back from both workers and customers. Many workers we spoke with sought to leave the gig economy.
Service provider apps are set up in ways that endanger gig workers.
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Ning Ma, University of British Columbia e Dongwook Yoon, University of British Columbia
Rating services on ride and task apps disadvantage gig workers, whose future work assignments are affected by their ratings. Women workers are made vulnerable, and have to contend with harassment.
Uber Australia’s deal with the transport workers union signals the Albanese government won’t mess about with attempts to reclassify gig workers as employees.