gig economy

Humans as a Service: The Promise and Perils of Work in the Gig Economy

by Jeremias Prassl  · 7 May 2018  · 491pp  · 77,650 words

offer much more than mere matchmaking services: they are in the business of digital work intermediation. To deliver tightly curated products and services to customers, gig-economy operators actively shape the entire transaction by means of close control over their workforce: from setting terms and con- ditions and checking relevant qualifications, to

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workers and tasks; user ratings also provide quality control and feedback, and digital payment systems render the entire transaction cashless. This is the ‘platform paradox’: gig-economy operators present themselves as marketplaces, even though, in reality, they often act like traditional employ- ers. Instead of passive matchmaking, platforms rely on rating systems

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of a ‘sharing economy’. Superficial * * * 8 Introduction as this may seem, language matters. This is the central theme of Chapter 2, ‘Doublespeak’. Discussions of the gig economy to date have been characterized by a clash of narratives—‘simple stories [that] distort multifaceted realities’, in the words of Frank Pasquale:16 platforms either

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that platforms’ inherently exploitative practices should be banned altogether. Neither suggestion will detain us for long. Matters become more interesting once we turn to the gig economy’s two central claims in refuting traditional employment laws: entrepreneurship and innovation. There is plenty of evidence for elements of both when platforms’ innovative use

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can play a crucial role in ‘Levelling the Playing Field’. Chapter 6 returns to questions of consumer protection and tax enforcement to show how characterizing gig-economy ‘micro- entrepreneurs’ as workers and platforms as their employers closes down avenues for exploiting regulatory arbitrage, corrects negative externalities, and avoids asset misallocation. At a

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fundamental level, the gig economy’s problems—for workers, con- sumers, taxpayers, and markets—are all driven by a single issue: by presenting themselves as mere intermediaries rather than powerful

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, order their food through Deliveroo, request handyman assistance from TaskRabbit, and out- source small digital tasks on Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk). Welcome to the gig economy. The ramifications are far-reaching. Traditional companies are replaced by platforms; their long-term employees recast as independent entrepreneurs. The platform economy, Professor Orly Lobel

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sophisticated algorithms connect workers and customers, and exercise ongoing control over the ensuing relationships. We then chart the astonishing variety and global growth of the gig economy, with a particular emphasis on the underlying business model: how do platforms make money? Finally, we turn to the broader impacts of digital work intermediation

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offer, each platform operates as a digital labour intermediary: matching consumer demand with workers from its pool—and exercising close control over the entire relationship. Gig-economy services can be accessed with hitherto unimaginable ease (and often at much cheaper prices) once consumers have registered their personal and credit card details with

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arbitrage and negative externalities are at the core of most platforms’ valuations. Matching and Intermediation We have already seen how the dominant story behind the gig economy’s commercial success is one of platforms’ vastly superior matching opportunities, unlocking and creating surplus value in the economy. Platforms then reap a * * * The Economics

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language of markets—but they operate like old- fashioned employers, relying on technology to exercise tight control over their workforce. Tomassetti doesn’t deny that gig-economy platforms have dramatically lowered transaction cost in comparison with established competitors. Lowering transaction cost alone, however, cannot account for platforms’ phenomenal valuations and claims to

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‘not have the freedom to determine their own working patterns’.57 The US National Employment Law Project (NELP) has been a similarly vocal critic of gig-economy work, highlighting ‘micro wages’ and exploit- ative working conditions.58 Unpredictable consumer demand makes flexi- bility illusory; invasive data collection denies users privacy; workers

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equally are these distributed? Commentators * * * 28 Work on Demand are concerned about the entrenchment of a two-tiered labour market. As The Economist has noted, gig-economy entrepreneurs: have created a plethora of on-demand companies that put time-starved urban professionals in timely contact with job-starved workers, creating a sometimes

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implications of the competing stories we have encountered—for they are crucial building blocks in shaping narratives about, and thus the legal regulation of, the gig economy. * * * * * * 2 Doublespeak P ‘ olitical language has to consist largely of euphemism, question-begging and sheer cloudy vagueness’, wrote George Orwell in 1946. ‘When there is

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nothing surprising about such lobbying efforts in and of themselves, of course: every industry seeks to create positive public perceptions of its * * * 34 Doublespeak activities. Gig-economy doublespeak, however, raises a much more funda- mental point. Its narratives are not mere marketing tools; they are designed to cultivate particular political and regulatory

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of language in rebranding work and shaping regu- latory responses. Zero-hours work is criticized for worker exploitation, low * * * 42 Doublespeak wages, and insecurity; the gig economy is lauded for fostering innovation and entrepreneurship. Language Matters We no longer talk of ‘work’. The enthusiastic language of ‘gigs’, ‘tasks’, ‘rides’, ‘lifts’, ‘hustles’, ‘hits

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—casting platforms as community actors, rather than economic oper- ators, and rebranding employment as freelance entrepreneurship. Peers, Neighbours, Friends In the early days of the gig economy, observers were faced with a discourse of ‘collaborative consumption’,37 peer-to-peer sharing, and neighbours helping neighbours: ‘Rideshare with Lyft. Lyft is your friend

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first surfaced, examples of hideous corporate-speak abound in today’s business world, from euphemistic CEO missives to * * * Rebranding Work 45 misleading product descriptions. ‘The gig economy, however,’ she argues, ‘has taken such abuse to an entirely new and dubious level . . . language has become a weapon to be used in direct defiance

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to employment law. Rebranding old-school labour intermediation as an exciting new technological innovation thus poses a fundamental challenge to existing regulatory structures: if the gig economy is a radically new way of organizing work, old-fashioned employment law should no longer apply. Entrepreneurship and Innovation In these accounts, the on-demand

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stimulating diversity, grapple with the exhilarating challenges, and reap the vast financial rewards of entrepreneurship. * * * 46 Doublespeak It gets even better: micro-entrepreneurship in the gig economy is char- acterized as a tool for inclusive growth in times of secular stagnation, bring- ing more and more citizens into gainful economic activity. Given

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and owned ‘key assets used to provide the underlying service’ should be classified as service providers.66 Even those uncomfortable with the legislative classification of gig- economy workers as independent contractors eschew employment status. At the least radical end of the spectrum, we find proposals to create a ‘third’ employment status for

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Princeton economist who has repeatedly collaborated with on-demand platforms, have argued in favour of the statutory introduction of a third, intermediate category to capture gig-economy workers. Their ‘independent worker’ would be entitled to some protection, including collective bargaining rights and elements of social security provision, whilst being denied recourse to

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at a first par- allel with historical developments when exploring how Taylorist control led to low wages and harsh working conditions for gig-economy workers. But it is not only gig-economy working conditions for which there is ample historical precedent; the parallels are much starker than that. The very business model of the

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tasks instead of complex jobs; powerful intermediaries controlling large workforces; * * * Nothing New under the Sun 73 hybrid arrangements between open market and closed hierarchies: the gig economy is but the latest (and perhaps the most extreme) example of labour- market practices that have been around for centuries. Nothing New under the Sun

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govern- ment entities).’6 Drawing on the work of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) economists Tom Malone, Joanne Yates, and Robert Benjamin, Sundararajan suggests that gig-economy innovation will fundamentally reshape our economy by incentivizing entrepreneurs to move away from the hierarchical organization of business in large corporations towards open markets: ‘[A

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promises of high income and were subsequently detained with promises of future earning opportunities—or threats of lawsuits against them and their families.22 The gig economy has similarly unlocked new ways of tapping into otherwise idle time through increased labour-market participation for traditionally excluded groups, from immigrant workers to homebound

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on-demand work? Governments across the world have long struggled to develop policies that increase labour-market participation and bring traditionally excluded groups into work. Gig-economy innovation, it appears, has finally delivered a tool towards that elusive goal. History, however, warns us of a darker consequence: as entrepreneurs pass the risks

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as a radically new and innova- tive economic model to bring entrepreneurship to all is a crucial step in * * * 84 The Innovation Paradox shielding the gig economy against increasing regulatory efforts to hold both intermediaries and those ultimately benefiting from the work responsible for compliance with tax laws and employment regulation. Not

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fragmentation don’t. [A] fragmented and discon- nected workforce will find it much more difficult to harness their group genius.’80 In other words, the gig economy’s highly individualistic, task-by- task model of independent contracting fundamentally undermines many of the proven (if serendipitous) conditions required for innovation to prosper. The

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steps are wide- reaching: employment law protects workers against many of the difficulties Humans as a Service: The Promise and Perils of Work in the Gig Economy. First Edition. Jeremias Prassl. © Jeremias Prassl 2018. Published 2018 by Oxford University Press. * * * 94 Disrupting the Disruptors we encountered thus far—without threatening the flexibility

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to overcome some of these obstacles, with new unions such as the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) actively engaged in organizing gig-economy workers.64 Given that gig-economy workers heavily rely on their smartphones and computers, organizing is increasingly taking place over the Internet and communica- tion apps. The results are

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access to basic legal advice.70 In future, unions or workers’ collectives might even set up their own platforms—or develop international certification standards for gig-economy operators who agree to design their business models in line with appropriate employment standards.71 The success of individual initiatives notwithstanding, the overall problems for

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industrial action. Rights vs Flexibility? In making the case for employment protection, there is one final argument we need to tackle: the myth that many gig-economy workers might not actually want employment law rights, because they enjoy the flexibility that independent contracting brings. Employment law, this narrative suggests, is downright harmful

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, and complementary to, existing norms. * * * Rights vs Flexibility? 117 Restoring employment law responsibility will bring huge benefits to workers—and is key to ensuring the gig economy’s long-term sustainability. Consumers, taxpayers, and even platforms themselves will ultimately benefit from a marketplace in which everybody plays by the rules. Let’s

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to public funds. * * * 130 Levelling the Playing Field Revisiting the Business Model Perhaps the most important consequence, however, would be a fundamental change to the gig-economy business model itself. In Chapter 1, we encoun- tered a series of competing explanations of the industry’s economics. Some argued that platforms create value

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of documents, it has quickly become dominated by language- and pattern-recognition software.15 For now, it seems more likely that automation will drive further gig- economy growth. Technology increasingly allows traditional jobs to be broken down into discrete tasks. Think of a commercial lawyer advising on a merger transaction: traditionally, she

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.16 Automation will almost certainly destroy some jobs—but we should be careful about assuming that it will have significant short-term consequences for the gig economy. Remember the goal behind Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk)? To provide artificial artificial intelligence, by getting humans to do what computers cannot. Rethinking Employment

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. Steven Hill, Raw Deal (St Martin’s Press 2015), 11. 40. Mariano Mamertino of economics consultancy Indeed, as cited in Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), Gig Economy: The Uberisation of Work (REC 2016), 52. 41. Elance-Odesk, Annual Impact Report (Elance-Odesk 2014), 23, https://blog-static. odesk.com/content/Elance-oDeskAnnualImpactReport2014

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identified as key benefit’, ORB International (10 October 2016), https://perma.cc/H983-VE3Z 74. Work and Pensions Committee, Oral Evidence: Self-Employment and the Gig Economy (HC 847, 2016–17), Response to Q188 (Heidi Allen MP), http://data. parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/ work-and-pensions-committee/selfemployment-and-the

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, but I am exceptionally grateful for the discussions, indus- try insights, and challenges offered by government officials, international organizations, employer representatives, trade unions, academics, and gig- economy platforms—including in particular Uber’s Amit Singh and Guy Levin. I was fortunate to receive feedback on a first draft of the book from

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Work The Platform Paradox Labour as a Technology Making the Gig Economy Work Platforms as a Service Exploring the Gig Economy Charting Solutions A Broader Perspective 1. Work on Demand Understanding the Gig Economy Digital Work Intermediation How Big Is the Gig Economy? Explosive Growth The Economics of the Gig Economy Matching and Intermediation Regulatory Arbitrage Cash Burn Network Effects

The Gig Economy: The Complete Guide to Getting Better Work, Taking More Time Off, and Financing the Life You Want

by Diane Mulcahy  · 8 Nov 2016  · 229pp  · 61,482 words

referenced over and over throughout our new, independent careers.” —Billy Cripe, Chief Marketing Officer, Field Nation Diane Mulcahy deftly covers the fundamental drivers of the Gig Economy, as well as the mindset and behaviors you’ll need to succeed in this brave new world of DIY careers. Her research pierces our entrenched

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for understanding these changes and navigating them with your greatest goals in mind. —Dave McLaughlin, General Manager, Eastern US & Canada, We Work THE Gig ECONOMY DIANE MULCAHY THE Gig ECONOMY THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO GETTING Better Work, TAKING More Time Off, AND FINANCING THE Life You Want! DISCLAIMERS This publication does not provide financial

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Want 8. Be Financially Flexible 9. Think Access, Not Ownership 10. Save for a Traditional Retirement . . . but Don’t Plan on Having One The Future Gig Economy Acknowledgments Notes Index Free Sample From THE ECONOMY OF YOU By Kimberly Palmer About AMACOM INTRODUCTION Take this job and shove it. —JOHNNY PAYCHECK Five

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and career ladder on one end, and unemployment on the other end, then the broad range and variety of alternative work in between is the Gig Economy. The Gig Economy includes consulting and contractor arrangements, part-time jobs, temp assignments, freelancing, self-employment, side gigs, and on-demand work through platforms like Upwork and

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at many U.S. colleges and universities. How long will it be before this teaching model moves into our public school system? The more the Gig Economy demonstrates that white-collar and professional work can be restructured, contracted out, and purchased more cheaply, the more disruptive it feels. TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES: Somehow, when

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better work. By disaggregating work from a job, workers can realize levels of autonomy, flexibility, and control that have been traditionally unavailable to employees. The Gig Economy is also disrupting how we live. Our traditional highly leveraged, high-fixed-cost lifestyle won’t work as well in an economy of variable work

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life, and finding satisfying work that helps achieve your vision of professional and personal success. So, stop looking for a job, and start creating your Gig Economy life. Part One GETTING BETTER Work · Chapter One · DEFINE YOUR SUCCESS This is the beginning of anything you want . . . —ANONYMOUS Our earliest ideas of success

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decision, we can challenge our assumptions and, in many cases, find a better and more satisfying and option. Adopt an Opportunity Mindset Succeeding in the Gig Economy requires us to work in different ways—not always as full-time employees—and to think about work differently by shifting from an Employee Mindset

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security, and increasingly avoid hiring full-time employees, maintaining the Employee Mindset is unrealistic and highly risky. A less-risky approach to succeeding in the Gig Economy is to transition to the more proactive Opportunity Mindset. Workers with Opportunity Mindsets see themselves as active creators, builders, and architects of their own career

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of us to succeed—leverage our existing skills, experience, and interests into a diverse portfolio of multiple gigs. Diversification is the new normal of the Gig Economy. Diversifying our work reduces our risk, opens up new opportunities, expands our networks, and develops our skills. Diversifying our interests brings balance and variety to

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personal coaching for her clients. Her firm is thriving. Create Income Security by Keeping Fixed Costs Low The variable, changeable nature of work in the Gig Economy doesn’t easily support a highly leveraged, high-fixed-cost lifestyle. It’s difficult, risky, and stressful to commit to high monthly debt payments or

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costs low and manageable so the income needed to cover them is reasonably easy for us to earn. When I interviewed independent workers in the Gig Economy—from authors and speakers with lucrative consulting gigs to freelancing recent graduates with lower levels of income—they all emphasized the importance of maintaining a

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, Stride Health, and Honest Dollar are other organizations and startups that are creating online platforms and solutions to help independent workers access benefits. As the Gig Economy continues to disaggregate workers from jobs, we can expect to see more demand and more options emerge for purchasing customized and portable benefits. INCOME SECURITY

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online introductions to other attendees. This technology is helping turn big conferences into targeted, efficient, and curated opportunities to connect. Outbound Connect by Creating Your Gig Economy Pitch Job titles used to be an easy, shorthand way to convey where we were in our careers and what our skills and competencies were

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out and continue cultivating your connections. INBOUND AND OUTBOUND CONNECTING IS THE NEW NETWORKING Connecting with the right people is critical to succeed in the Gig Economy. Other people are our greatest source of ideas, opportunities, and referrals. We have to generate our own opportunities and plan to change jobs, gigs, and

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projects frequently in the Gig Economy, so finding ways that we feel comfortable connecting with others is essential to our success. To build connections without networking, consider: What ways of Inbound

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an incredible year of travel, learning, experiences, and time together. Looking back, I consider that year one of my biggest and most meaningful accomplishments. The Gig Economy requires us to think about time off differently. Instead of being granted two to three weeks of annual paid vacation from our job, we can

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dissatisfied with rigid schedules that force them to work in ways that are inefficient or less productive and acquire poor time-management habits. Fortunately, the Gig Economy offers us options for escaping this lose-lose dysfunction of the corporate time suck. Independent workers retain autonomy, control, and flexibility over their workday and

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are reasonably free to schedule and allocate their time to maximize their productivity and results. The Gig Economy values skills above all, so in-demand talent, strong performers, and employees with a good exit strategy are also well positioned to retain control of

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chores with mental ones such as listening or talking, we can accomplish both efficiently and effectively. BEING MINDFUL ABOUT TIME IS THE NEW BUSY The Gig Economy gives us greater opportunity to take greater ownership of our time and align our time with our priorities. As you contemplate restructuring your time, consider

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chapter to explore concrete ways to restructure your finances and increase financial flexibility in your own life. Increase Financial Flexibility by Making More Money The Gig Economy presents us with numerous opportunities to generate additional income on our own schedule. We can monetize side gigs (which we discussed in detail in chapter

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your means. You are more financially flexible and more financially secure. Increase Financial Flexibility by Creating a Financial Plan In the uncertain environment of the Gig Economy, a financial plan is essential. Research shows that across income levels, households that engage in financial planning are more likely to save for emergencies, save

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, insurance, and savings.4 Interestingly, the majority of this group of comprehensive planners reports an annual household income below $100,000. Independent workers in the Gig Economy have more financial management responsibilities than the average household. We need a plan to cover volatile income streams and periods of unemployment. If we do

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like Intuit (makers of TurboTax), AND CO, and FreshBooks are developing tools targeted to independent workers to manage taxes, expenses, budgeting, and invoicing. As the Gig Economy grows, we can expect to see more apps and startups create tools to help manage the back office and financial planning needs of independent workers

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. FINANCIAL FLEXIBILITY IS THE NEW LIVING PAYCHECK TO PAYCHECK Succeeding in the Gig Economy requires us to be financially flexible and implement a different, more deliberate approach to managing money. Without a steady paycheck, we have to rethink and

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funds, like Social Security, appear unreliable at best and insolvent at worst, depending on your generation. There are three discrete possibilities to retire in the Gig Economy: Save to finance a traditional retirement Plan to work longer and retire later Create a new vision of retirement Let’s look at each in

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turn. Save to Finance a Traditional Retirement Saving for retirement is a daunting task, but in the Gig Economy, independent workers have the opportunity to save more for retirement than a typical employee. Contractors and other independent workers who don’t have access to

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for retirement in their highest earning years and scale back in leaner times. This flexibility is better suited to the variable incomes that characterize the Gig Economy. The table below summarizes how much more self-employed and contract workers are eligible to contribute to retirement accounts compared to employees. Independent Workers Are

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vision will help you estimate how much it’s likely to cost and help motivate you to save enough to realize it. Succeeding in the Gig Economy requires different skills than succeeding as an employee. If you’ve cultivated those skills—developing an opportunity mindset, diversifying your work, taking time between gigs

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, and confusing labor market policies. There has been much debate about how to change our laws and modify our labor markets in response to the Gig Economy. The most important and significant one centers on how to address the current categorization of workers as either employees or contractors. The distinction between contractor

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is in persistent disequilibrium. So far, the Department of Labor has not expressed an interest or willingness to quantify the size and growth of the Gig Economy through data collection, or enact any policy changes to support it. The government has stood inactively by, failing to update policies to offer increased security

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our labor market. The following proposals represent a subset that have gained traction in the debate. They give us some early ideas about how the Gig Economy might evolve going forward. Eliminate Categorization of Workers First to go would most certainly be the complicated, ill-defined, and outdated distinctions between employee and

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current labor system encourage. Add a Third Category of Worker Instead of eliminating worker categorization, one of the most common, incremental policy proposals for the Gig Economy is to add another one.9 Numerous academics and policy commentators propose creating a new third legal category of “independent worker” or “dependent contractor” as

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that protects independent workers from declines in income. The mechanics of the different proposals vary, but the idea is to reduce the volatility of the Gig Economy’s variable income. Income insurance could either supplement or replace unemployment insurance. In Reich’s example, if “your monthly income dips more than 50 percent

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probability that income will vary, and jobs will change. The middle class will have to be rebuilt on a different foundation in the Gig Economy. Traditional Work Foundation Gig Economy Foundation Steady paychecks Diversified income Secure full-time jobs Work, not jobs Highly leveraged home ownership Low leverage or no leverage flexible living arrangements

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, talking through concepts and ideas, and in the midst of it all, undergoing her own transformation from full-time employee to working independently in the Gig Economy. I am incredibly grateful and appreciative for the many significant contributions she made to this book. I thank all of the many people I interviewed

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about the topics in this book. I appreciate their willingness to share their experiences, perspectives, and stories about their personal and professional lives in the Gig Economy. I especially thank those that have also been willing to speak in my class, including Sharon Bially, Dorie Clark, Devin Cole, Jessica Fox, Rachel Greenberger

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an academic home and a wonderful teaching environment for the past six years. I created the idea and the syllabus for my Gig Economy class in 2011, before the term “Gig Economy” was part of the popular lexicon, and right from the first draft, Dr. Candy Brush provided enormous support and encouragement for the

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Blitz, Susan Duffy, Patti Greene, Rachel Greenberger, and Jan Shubert, who have offered support, counsel, and friendship. Over the past five years of teaching the Gig Economy in Babson’s MBA program, my students have given me excellent feedback, asked insightful questions, challenged my assertions, and generously shared their own experiences, perspectives

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-eleven-retiree-health-benefits/ 25. Author Tim Ferriss is credited with introducing the term “mini-retirement” in his book The 4-Hour Workweek. THE FUTURE GIG ECONOMY 1. U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, U.S. Department of Labor, “Statement of Seth D. Harris Deputy Secretary U.S

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the print index are listed below Accenture access, vs. ownership accountant Affordable Care Act age-related difference in time perception “Airbnb lifestyle” alternative work, see Gig Economy American Dream American Express anchoring antitrust laws, contractors and appreciation of home values ask in connecting for introductions and referrals automatic savings Baby Boomers bad

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debt from elevator pitch Ellis, Linda, “The Dash” Employee Mindset employee-in-a-job model employees advantages of being vs. contractors corporate benefits impact of Gig Economy learned helplessness about time prorated and portable benefits tax rate employers contribution retirement plans student loan repayment benefits tax compliance rate end dates, negotiating Entrepreneur

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, social connections Freelancer Freelancers Union FreshBooks full-time employees job disappearance as last resort fundraising Gabriel, Allison Gaignard, Jayson, Mastermind Dinners Gallup poll Generation X Gig Economy finding gigs of future good work vs. good job growth labor issues MBA course newness of pitch for outbound connect retirement to mix work and

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is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Mulcahy, Diane, author. Title: The gig economy : the complete guide to getting better work, taking more time off, and financing the life you want / Diane Mulcahy. Description: New York, NY : AMACOM, [2016

The Gig Economy: A Critical Introduction

by Jamie Woodcock and Mark Graham  · 17 Jan 2020  · 207pp  · 59,298 words

did we write this book? What will the book cover? Notes 1 Where did the gig economy come from? The preconditions that shape the gig economy The rise of the gig economy Notes 2 How does the gig economy work? What is a platform? The case of Uber The geographically tethered model The cloudwork model Understanding how platforms

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Appendix: Draft Convention on Platform Work Notes References Index End User License Agreement List of Figures Chapter 1 Figure 1 The preconditions that shape the gig economy Chapter 2 Figure 2 The spatiality and temporality of platform work Figure 3(a) The availability of cloudwork Figure 3(b) The location of cloudworkers

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Conclusion Figure 5 Transparency Figure 6 Accountability Figure 7 Worker power Figure 8 Democratic ownership List of Tables Chapter 2 Table 1 Governance in the gig economy The Gig Economy A Critical Introduction Jamie Woodcock Mark Graham polity Copyright © Jamie Woodcock and Mark Graham 2020 The right of Jamie Woodcock and Mark Graham to

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just describe it, but also to shape it so that it can become more just and fair. What do we mean by the gig economy? The ‘gig’ in the term ‘gig economy’ refers back to the short-term arrangements typical of a musical event. An aspiring musician might celebrate getting a gig, or tell

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some of the key social, economic and political implications of these transformations of work – providing an account of the development, debates and operation of the gig economy. These themes are then further explored by looking at the experience of gig workers themselves, as well as considering emerging forms of resistance and pathways

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towards less exploitative forms of work. Why did we write this book? Both authors have studied work, and workers, in the gig economy in various ways since the gig economy took off, including extended periods of on-the-ground research in the UK, the Philippines, Vietnam, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Rwanda, South

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a significant erosion of working conditions, the other of hard work, but new opportunities, capture the complex and sometimes contradictory nature of the phenomenon. The gig economy is full of other such stories: stories of hope, success, desperation, exploitation and everything in between. In this book, we draw on a combination of

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the docks and in factories. We then introduce the political economy, technological and social preconditions that have facilitated the rise of the gig economy. In chapter 2, we explore how the gig economy works by examining the platforms that organize this work. This involves first exploring how work platforms serve as intermediaries, then using

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’ (Mitropoulos, 2005: 12). It is easy to observe the growth of this kind of precarious work, including temping, outsourcing, agency work and the gig economy. However, growth in the gig economy is not only driven by the private sector. In the UK, the largest employer of precarious workers is the state. There has been

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in the book. We have outlined this brief history of work to make the point that the precarious nature of work in the gig economy is not new. However, the gig economy represents a transformation and reorganization of work significant enough for us to be concerned about it. In the rest of this chapter

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, we argue that there are three key factors that have facilitated the growth of the gig economy. Firstly, broad political shifts taking place in the economy including worker power, state regulation and globalization and outsourcing. Secondly, the technological changes and new networks

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and times, but we would argue that, together, they influence how most people think about today’s gig economy. Although we use the term ‘gig economy’ in its singular form, we acknowledge that there are actually myriad gig economies all over the world that are experienced in significantly different ways. In other words, the experiences, practices

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have supported this. Platform infrastructure operates in a similar way to the stream mill, providing the technical basis for new organizations of work in the gig economy. The platform provides the ability for so-called technology companies to employ (or claim not to employ) large numbers of distributed workers. Early platforms were

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key driver in moving work away from the traditional organizational structure of the firm and into the organizational forms of the contemporary gig economy. First, in their role as connectors, gig economy firms are now able to reach ever greater populations of clients and workers. This is especially important for the recruitment process (i

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of humanity has now been connected to the global network. Consumer attitudes and preferences New economic activity requires consumer demand. An important precondition for the gig economy is therefore preferences and desires of end users and consumers. In some industries platforms have to encourage entirely new demands and behaviours. In others, they

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market activation policies that are forcing workers into low-paid work, often subsidized by the state. Alongside these policies, some countries are actively encouraging the gig economy as a potential source of economic prosperity and progress. South Korea, for instance, is investing public money in platforms in the hope that they will

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are more likely to act unilaterally, without the checks of collective bargaining or negotiation. Globalization and outsourcing The final precondition that has deeply shaped the gig economy in its current form is a combination of political economy and technology: the effects of globalization and outsourcing. This is a development and intensification of

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scale up or down in response to changing market conditions, and quickly adapt existing models to new contexts. The rise of the gig economy This chapter has shown that the gig economy is characterized by not just firms using platforms to create two-sided marketplaces that connect buyers and sellers and services. It is

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2017: 69). Gig work has to become numerically dominant to have far-reaching effects. As Callum Cant (2019) argues in his book on Deliveroo, the gig economy operates as a capitalist laboratory through which new techniques of management, control, worker exploitation and the extraction of profit are tested and refined. The success

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.kr/www/biz/2018/08/367_253635.html. 7. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/conemp.nr0.htm 2 How does the gig economy work? This chapter is about how gig economy platforms operate. It takes examples from two fundamentally different types of gig work – geographically tethered work and cloudwork, to illustrate how they

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effects, by employing cross-subsidization to draw in different user groups, and by having a designed core architecture that governs the interaction possibilities. For the gig economy, as we have written elsewhere, ‘the common feature of all digital labour platforms is that they offer tools to bring together the supply of, and

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employer would deploy. Across both cloudwork types and geographically tethered work, platforms present themselves as different to traditional waged employment. At the core of the gig economy is a controversy over the classification of the people involved. In most countries, work can be categorized as conducted by an employee or someone who

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required the development of technology that can do this efficiently, reliably and cost-effectively. The preconditions that we have argued facilitate the growth of the gig economy can be clearly identified in this model. The changes in political economy have created a deregulated environment in which the platform can position itself as

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spatial patterns of social organization, new dimensions of inequality and new relations of domination and dependence’. In order to make sense of this in the gig economy, we have distinguished between the different kinds of platforms and their relative spatial control, temporal control, ability of workers to set pay rates, task discretion

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-owed-thousands-in-holiday-and-sick-pay 14. See https://ig.ft.com/uber-game/ 15. See https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/26/gig-economy-flexibility-exploitation-record-employment-low-wages-zero-hours 16. See Capetalk (2016) [LISTEN] How much does Sweepsouth pay its domestic workers? Capetalk, 27 February.

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are required to successfully organize, finding new weaknesses in the control of work (Woodcock, 2018b). There is therefore a learning process taking place in the gig economy, as workers find new and emerging forms of resistance and organization. Worker resistance and organizing has historically drawn on the fact that workplaces tended to

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://www.reuters.com/article/us-uber-seattle-unions/u-s-court-revives-challenge-to-seattles-uber-lyft-union-law-idUSKBN1IC27C Conclusion: What next for the gig economy? The gig economy is not just a synonym for algorithmic wizardry, large datasets and cutting-edge technologies. Whenever we think (or indeed research or write) about work

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necessarily involves workers. This means actual people with complex lives, working in relationships with each other. When talking about the numbers of workers in the gig economy across the world, the everyday lived experiences of these workers can fade into the background. After all, with millions of stories, we cannot possibly as

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that are harder to grasp. When workers become numbers that are graphed or plotted, their agency – whether collective or individual – fades into the background. The gig economy thereby risks being understood as something that is done to workers, rather than something they engage with, create and produce, in different ways. While we

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for labour power have ushered in a world of work that represents a departure from older ways of organizing the labour process. But today’s gig economy is not just enabled by technology. Particular political and social circumstances – consumer attitudes and preferences, gendered and racialized relationships of work, permissive regulatory environments, ineffective

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). This is happening across sectors and around the world as a result of particular technological, social, political and economic preconditions. Work, for those in the gig economy, is on demand, no longer embedded in organizations, and mediated by platforms that capture significant rents. It is often characterized by informational opacity and asymmetry

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just how the machine works, we want to try to envision some alternative mechanics. We have done this framed around four problematic characteristics of the gig economy: a lack of transparency, accountability, worker power and democratic ownership. In some cases, we propose tweaks to the machine; in others we propose a

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the impacts of our actions. Building mutual understanding about work and working conditions is a starting point for larger structural change. Narratives about what the gig economy is need to be taken away from its current gatekeepers. By building more transparency about the nature of platform work, workers and their advocates lay

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is really needed for genuine positive change is for platform workers to have, create and take more power in their collective destinies. Workers in the gig economy have potential ‘associational power’ (Silver, 2003). This power comes from the ability of workers, brought together at work, to act collectively in their interests.

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union, big tent domestic unions, international union federations like UNI Global, or unions like the Industrial Workers of the World. What matters is simply that gig economy workers find ways of collective bargaining, and that they are able to build the associational power, symbolic power and structural power that would be required

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-dollar companies. Trebor Scholz (2017b: 47), who argues for ‘platform cooperatives’ (platforms that are democratically governed and cooperatively owned), proposes an alternative model for the gig economy that begins with a thought experiment: Just for one moment imagine that the algorithmic heart of any of these citadels of anti-unionism could be

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to embed that power, and focus that regulation, on building more democratic institutions that occupy key nodes of information exchange in the digital economy. Multiple gig economy models have emerged, ranging from general online freelancing platforms, which are necessarily limited in the amount of control that they can exert on work, to

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transportation and care work platforms, which are characterized by extremely high levels of explicit coordination and power asymmetry. But what all gig economy models have in common is a defining logic that seeks to shift maximal risk and minimal reward onto workers. Platform companies achieve this through technologies

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. Alternate Routes, 29: 242–53. Graham, M., Hjorth, I. and Lehdonvirta, V. (2017a) Digital labour and development: Impacts of global digital labour platforms and the gig economy on worker livelihoods. Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, 23(2): 135–162. Graham, M., Lehdonvirta, V., Wood, A., Barnard, H., Hjorth, I. and

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) The Urban Experience. Oxford: Blackwell. Harvey, D. (2007) A Brief History of Neoliberalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Heeks, R. (2017) Decent work and the digital gig economy: A developing country perspective on employment impacts and standards in online outsourcing, crowdwork, etc. Paper No. 71. Manchester: Centre for Development Informatics, Global Development Institute

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-opportunity-in-the-digital-age Manyika, J., Lund, S., Bughin, J., Robinson, K., Mischke, J. and Mahajan, D. (2016), Independent work: Choice, necessity, and the gig economy. Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/Featured%20Insights/Employment%20and%20Growth/Independent%20work%20Choice%20necessity%20and%20the%20gig%20economy/Independent-Work-Choice-necessity

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-and-the-gig-economy-Full-report.ashx Marlow, J. (1971) The Tolpuddle Martyrs. London: History Book Club. Marx, K. (1845) Theses on Feuerbach. Available at: https://www.marxists.org

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, 33(1): 56–75. Wood, A., Graham, M., Lehdonvirta, A. and Hjorth, I. (2019b) Networked but commodified: The (dis)embeddedness of digital labour in the gig economy. Sociology, https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038519828906 Woodcock, J. (2014a) The workers’ inquiry from Trotskyism to Operaismo: A political methodology for investigating the workplace. Ephemera

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racism 30 ratings strategy and transparency 122–3 Ravenelle, Alexandrea 37, 70 Raw, Louise 14 Reagan, Ronald 34 reddit 123 regulation 144 lack of for gig economy workers 128–9 labour law 19, 114, 117, 126, 128 state 19, 33–6 regulatory entrepreneurship 49 repeat transactions and platforms 68 resistance see worker

Hustle and Gig: Struggling and Surviving in the Sharing Economy

by Alexandrea J. Ravenelle  · 12 Mar 2019  · 349pp  · 98,309 words

their tireless encouragement and support. My students and colleagues at Mercy have been especially gracious and eager to help, regularly forwarding me articles about the gig economy and inquiring about the status of my research. My editor, Naomi Schneider, showed early interest in this project, when it was just a one-

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meals, helping with childcare, and offering their support and understanding when I was overwhelmed with deadlines. My brother Chuck shared his own experiences in the gig economy world and was an upbeat cheerleader. My husband, Sam Duncan, kept me fed, the dog walked, and the baby sleeping, and prevented the ever-

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back before doing things like that again.’” The stories from these twentysomething and thirtysomething workers underline the volatility of working in the twenty-first-century gig economy. Taking jobs in what has been heralded as a futuristic utopia of choose-your-own-adventure employment with flexible schedules and unlimited earnings, these young

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apps that promise to transcend capitalism in favor of community. Supporters argue that this new economic movement, alternatively described as the on-demand, platform, or gig economy, will build community, reverse economic inequality, stop ecological destruction, counter materialistic tendencies, enhance worker rights, empower the poor, and bring entrepreneurship to the masses.3

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the name of disruption and returning to a time when worker exploitation was the norm. This book explores contradictions between the lofty promises of the gig economy and the lived experience of the workers, between app-enabled modernity and the reality of rolling back generations of workplace protections. The sharing economy promises

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related to income inequality and American labor struggles over the past two hundred years. This historical connection demonstrates that while the underlying notion of a “gig economy” is fundamentally forward-facing—new tools, new capabilities, and new ventures—most of its basic practices are distressingly familiar. It’s an exercise in regression

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For millennials contending with the possibility of downward mobility, earning additional income through the sharing economy can be a popular stopgap measure—the majority of gig economy workers are between the ages of eighteen and thirty-four.17 STRUGGLERS, STRIVERS, AND SUCCESS STORIES As I met and interviewed workers, the same themes

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RESEARCHING THE SHARING ECONOMY My research is based on nearly eighty ethnographic interviews with workers for Airbnb, Uber, TaskRabbit, and Kitchensurfing. When I discuss my gig economy research, I often hear a response that sounds like this: “I love Uber/Airbnb/TaskRabbit! I spoke to my driver/host on the way here

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workers worked long hours in a piecemeal system, workplace safety was nonexistent, and there were few options for redress for injustices. I outline how the gig economy’s lack of responsibility for workers results in an effective destruction of Occupational Safety and Health Administration protections and worker’s compensation as workers clean

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members, only ten thousand users are active.6 The technological version of the sharing economy, also described interchangeably as connected consumption, collaborative consumption, or the gig economy, is often dated back to the 1995 inventions of Craigslist by Craig Newmark and PayPal by Pierre Omidyar.7 Later contributory organizations included the free

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themselves as entrepreneurs, workers, or sharers who are creating a new type of economy? What types of skills and capital do workers bring to the gig economy? My research draws on three main theoretical themes: the Gemeinschaft/Gesellschaft trust divide; the increasing casualization of labor with a related shift in risk; and

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the cost of annual car payments or several months’ rent.”48 Based on these reports—issued by the companies themselves—it appears that while the gig economy may offer workers a way to fight stagnating wages and workplace instability, at best, this work is subsistence entrepreneurism. Increasing Social Inequalities As the

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workers, nineteen Kitchensurfing chefs, and fourteen Uber drivers/messengers. These four services were chosen because they illustrate the diversity of businesses within the sharing or gig economy: incredibly successful, well-funded companies worth billions (Uber and Airbnb), an established but somewhat struggling start-up (TaskRabbit), and a relatively new upstart (Kitchensurfing).62

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“workplace arbitrariness,” such as policy changes and sudden firings—issues that remain particularly salient in today’s sharing economy. Much like miners and mill workers, gig economy workers experience considerable pay cuts. Both the erratic hours, where work today doesn’t mean work tomorrow, and worker income often seem to be based

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economy workers—classified as independent contractors—find themselves without any of these protections. And yet, this is only the start of the workplace troubles that gig economy workers often experience. Like their colleagues in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries, sharing economy workers may also encounter unsafe workplaces and on-the-job

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with sexual harassment. “In the same way that female engineers and start-up founders struggle to report harassment for fear of retaliation or lost funding, gig economy workers are in precarious positions,” says Sam Levin.20 Workers who report sexually uncomfortable situations risk being viewed as problem workers and often note their

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the drug dealers he encountered in the projects of Chicago were overwhelmingly poor, on governmental assistance, and living with their mothers.3 But in the gig economy, the logic that gainful employment will reduce crime—or prevent someone from engaging in criminal enterprises—is turned on its head.4 Although workers want

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without insurance or utilize the state exchanges, effectively shifting the cost of, and obligation to provide, health insurance to the taxpayer and government. Very successful gig economy workers may even manage to outsource their work—at least until the platforms ban such activities.23 With all of the outsourcing going on, it

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they deliver drugs, defraud companies, or engage in money laundering. But the structuring of gig-based employment leaves workers in a precarious situation. By deeming gig economy workers to be independent contractors, companies deny them many of the protections often associated with employees. Since their work is temporary and their numbers are

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many choices, which increases their vulnerability to being used for criminal ends or at least being involved in legally questionable activities.30 But not all gig economy workers are without choices. Successful Airbnb hosts and Kitchensurfing chefs find themselves with a surplus of choice: when they’ll work, who they’ll

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they tend to bring more specialized skills and financial capital to their sharing economy work, enabling them to live the dream careers promised by the gig economy. In addition, successful workers in these two organizations are much more likely to view themselves as entrepreneurs and to take advantage of the outsourcing opportunities

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among sex workers and those working in minimum-wage fast-food jobs or in blue-collar fields.4 The embarrassment associated with working within the gig economy suggests that this may be an occupation of last resort for some workers. MAKING ENTREPRENEURSHIP “EASY” For Damla, however, Kitchensurfing lived up to the

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not the host but the apartment.7 SKILLS, CAPITAL, AND CHOICE But aside from these differences, what sets Airbnb and Kitchensurfing apart from the other gig economy services described in these pages? Three words: skills, capital, and choice. As noted in chapter 2, Kitchensurfing and Airbnb present higher skill or capital-

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capital and skills, the sharing economy can offer a dream job with increased flexibility, choice, and control. But for workers who lack these components, the gig economy simply takes already low-level work, adds an app, and increases the precarity factor. This new economic movement isn’t equalizing the entrepreneurial playing field

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rights without responsibilities.”43 This message of personal responsibility, part of a neoliberal ideology, gets a further boost with the entrepreneurial ethos employed by the gig economy platforms. The companies claim the sharing economy allows workers to “be your own boss.” Work is arranged according to your schedule (“work when you

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, the lack of workplace security and dependable income could make “taken-for-granted models for organizing one’s life” essentially unattainable.53 FREELANCE WAGE OR GIG ECONOMY MIRAGE? Sharing economy services such as Uber and TaskRabbit argue that their workers also command premium incomes. In 2014, an Uber blog post describing drivers

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costs of benefits—sick leave, paid time off, unemployment or health insurance—that commonly equal 20 to 30 percent of compensation. As a result, the gig economy also raises issues related to inequality and stratification. Even though services market their platforms as bringing entrepreneurship to the masses, the real winners are individuals

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mow their own grass in an effort to “maximize the efficient allocation of time.”65 Just like participants in the underground economy, workers in the gig economy—especially when paid as 1099 workers—are engaged in “informal economic activities [that] bypass the existing laws and regulatory agencies of the state.”66 Workers

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sample for most sharing economy services (for-hire driving remains the exception), minority participants, with lower median net worth, may be especially vulnerable in the gig economy. The workers who found themselves involved in criminal activity were all Strugglers and Strivers—none were Success Stories. It’s not certain if they were

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a way to help people supplement their incomes as needed without experiencing an undue burden of risk. An easy fix would be to change how gig economy workers are classified by employers. INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR (MIS)CLASSIFICATION While many sharing economy services tell their workers that they are small business owners or independent

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who was a “dependent contractor” for Uber might not be able to take advantage of special rate incentives with competing services or an entirely different gig economy platform. An alternative category—independent worker—has been recommended by former deputy secretary of labor Seth Harris and Princeton economist Alan Krueger.89 If US

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of workers’ compensation and minimum-wage requirements is especially troubling. A third strategy is to maintain the status quo but reduce the economic vulnerability of gig economy workers. In 2017, Virginia senator Mark Warner, a former tech entrepreneur, introduced legislation to test-drive a portable benefits plan for gig workers. The bill

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an employee, with some entrepreneurial individuals seeking to go into business for themselves as independent consultants and contractors. Even workplaces that are part of the gig economy, such as Uber, TaskRabbit, Airbnb, Munchery, and Kitchensurfing, pay their professional workers as employees. Why should frontline workers be treated any differently? Allowing workers who

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York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, February 9. Gee, Kelsey. 2017. “In a Job Market This Good, Who Needs to Work in the Gig Economy?” Wall Street Journal, August 8. Geerts, Achilles, Borris A. Kornblith, and W. John Urmson. 1977. Compensation for Bodily Harm. Brussels: Fernand Nathan. Geron, Tomio.

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. Hondagneu-Sotelo, Pierrette. 2001. Doméstica: Immigrant Workers Cleaning and Caring in the Shadows of Affluence. Berkeley: University of California Press. Hsu, Tiffany. 2017. “Ikea Enters ‘Gig Economy’ by Acquiring TaskRabbit.” New York Times, September 28. Hu, Winnie. 2017. “Yellow Cab, Long a Fixture of City Life, Is for Many a Thing of

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Its New Focus Is Helping Sharing Economy Workers.” Fast Company, November 12. ———. 2014b. “Pixel and Dimed—On Not Getting By in the Gig Economy.” Fast Company, March 18. ———. 2015a. “The Gig Economy Won’t Last Because It’s Being Sued to Death.” Fast Company, February 17. ———. 2015b. “The “Sharing Economy” Is Dead, and We

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Credit. New York: Basic Books. Manyika, James, Susan Lund, Jacques Bughin, Kelsey Robinson, Jan Mischke, and Deepa Mahajan. 2016. “Independent Work: Choice, Necessity and the Gig Economy,” McKinsey Global Institute, October. Marx, Patricia. 2013. “Outsource Yourself.” New Yorker, January 14. Mass, Alon Y., David S. Goldfarb, and Ojas Shah. 2014. “Taxi Cab

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against Taxi and For-Hire Drivers. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Labor. O’Donovan, Caroline. 2017. “A Senator Just Introduced the First-Ever National Gig Economy Bill.” BuzzFeed, May 25. O’Donovan, Caroline, and Priya Anand. 2017. “How Uber’s Hard-Charging Corporate Culture Left Employees Drained.” BuzzFeed, July 17.

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Cantillon, Ricard, 36 Capital in the Twenty-First Century (Piketty), 40 capitalism, 5, 23 capital issue: overview, 7, 23, 31, 39; distribution inequality, 186; in gig economy services, 166–68; hosts and, 19–20, 165; human and social capital, 183; participant recruitment and methodology, 42 career opportunities, 23, 36, 50, 56, 58

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; piecemeal system, 66, 68; sexual harassment and, 119–20; stereotypical work; vulnerability categories, 193–94 gentrification, 47 Gesellschaft, 31–36 Gett/Juno, 190–91, 233n72 gig economy: overview, 8; comparison of services of, 166–68; evaluation of, 174; labor rights and, 71; as marketing opportunity, 163–64; as sharing economy, 26; term

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191–92; successful workers risks, 18–21; tax revenues and, 205–6; time rule solution, 202–3, 206; worker success rates, 10–18. See also gig economy sharing economy activities: categories of, 27. See also exchange of services; increased utilization of durable assets; recirculation of goods; sharing of productive assets sharing economy

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Simmel, Georg, 32 Sinclair, Upton, 93, 177 sit-down strikes, 70 skills issue: overview, 7, 23, 31; ability, 4; in-demand job skills, 38; in gig economy services, 166–68; marketable skills, 183; participant recruitment and methodology, 42 Slater, Samuel, 66 Slater Mill, 66, 225n15 sleep reduction, 16 smartphones: apps, 50; data

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: driver requirements, 222n64; nightclub bottle service, 223n75; taxi apps, 32–33; taxicab syndrome, 104 Taylorism, 178 technological issues: advancements, 26; automation, 179; entrepreneurship and, 38; gig economy, 26; job destruction, 186; technology as secondary, 191–92. See also cashless payment systems; customer review sites; smartphones technology focus: apps, 6; contactless payment systems

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120, 191 unemployment rate, 10, 175, 176 unexotic underclass, 231n4 unicorns (startups), 2 unionization: overview, 6, 23; deregulation and, 178; early attempts at, 64–65; gig economy workers and, 71–72, 94; Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911 and, 227n8; Wagner Act of 1935, 70; worker benefits and, 71, 177–78 United

Ghost Work: How to Stop Silicon Valley From Building a New Global Underclass

by Mary L. Gray and Siddharth Suri  · 6 May 2019  · 346pp  · 97,330 words

” or part of a larger digital or platform economy. Other times, they’re simply, glibly called gigs.9 No employment laws capture the on-demand gig economy’s odd mix of independence from any single employer and dependency on a web-based platform. As the taskmasters of the

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gig economy, on-demand platforms make their money by matching those buying and selling human labor online, generating a two-sided market of myriad businesses and anonymous

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food, providing healthcare, or selling goods in brick-and-mortar shops are the growing number of jobs that can be found in the on-demand gig economy. Because this work doesn’t fit any ready-made classification in employment law, the terms-of-service agreements for platforms like MTurk and CrowdFlower are

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0.5 and 1 percent of working adults in the U.S., or 1.25 to 2.5 million people, participate in the on-demand gig economy. But they come to that number through a very specific study of Uber drivers and the assumption that Uber and other ride-hailing mobile apps

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the dead—to a tree near the intersection where Avendano was killed. Nearby was a banner hung from an abandoned train trestle that declared, THE GIG ECONOMY KILLED PABLO. REST IN POWER.2 Avendano’s friends organized and called for Caviar couriers to unionize, demanding a starting wage of $20 per hour

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of robots taking over, but we will have to decide what we want ghost work to look like.1 Taken as a whole, the current “gig economy”—an ecosystem of independent contractors and small businesses driven by short-term projects that shift to meet market demands—is quietly moving to ghost work

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a more focused effort to measure it. Yet, statistically speaking, we need look no further than the subtle shifts happening in the current, so-called gig economy. This ecosystem of independent contractors and small businesses driven by short-term projects and resistance or incapacity to carry the costs of full-time employees

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. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444809342738. Graham, Mark, Isis Hjorth, and Vili Lehdonvirta. “Digital Labour and Development: Impacts of Global Digital Labour Platforms and the Gig Economy on Worker Livelihoods.” Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research 23, no. 2 (2017): 135–62. https://doi.org/10.1177/1024258916687250. Gray, Mary L

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-automation-for-a-future-that-works. Manyika, James, Susan Lund, Jacques Bughin, Kelsey Robinson, Jan Mischke, and Deepa Mahajan. Independent Work: Choice, Necessity, and the Gig Economy. Washington, DC: McKinsey Global Institute, October 2016. http://www.mckinsey.com/global-themes/employment-and-growth/independent-work-choice-necessity-and-the

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-gig-economy. Marwick, Alice E. Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity, and Branding in the Social Media Age. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2013. Mason, Winter, and Siddharth

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: Economic Policy Institute, 2018. https://www.epi.org/publication/uber-and-the-labor-market-uber-drivers-compensation-wages-and-the-scale-of-uber-and-the-gig-economy/. Mishel, Lawrence, Elise Gould, and Josh Bivens. Wage Stagnation in Nine Charts. Washington, DC: Economic Policy Institute, 2015. http://www.epi.org/publication/charting-wage

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/10.1177/0021943607309348. Parry, Thomas Fox. “The Death of a Gig Worker.” The Atlantic, June 1, 2018. https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/06/gig-economy-death/561302/?utm_source=atltw. Pennington, Shelley, and Belinda Westover. “Types of Homework.” In A Hidden Workforce, 44–65. Women in Society series. London: Palgrave

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. 3 (June 2013): 205–27. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020715213501823. Prassl, Jeremias. Humans as a Service: The Promise and Perils of Work in the Gig Economy. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 2018. Raghuram, Sumita. “Identities on Call: Impact of Impression Management on Indian Call Center Agents.” Human Relations 66, no. 11

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. Accessed October 21, 2018. https://www.edge.org/response-detail/26587. Wood, Alex. “Why the Digital Gig Economy Needs Co-Ops and Unions.” openDemocracy, September 15, 2016. https://www.opendemocracy.net/alex-wood/why-digital-gig-economy-needs-co-ops-and-unions. World Economic Forum. Special Program of the Broadband Commission and the World

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-lives-of-google-raters/. [back] 23. Gillespie, Custodians of the Internet; Jeremias Prassl, Humans as a Service: The Promise and Perils of Work in the Gig Economy (Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 2018); Sarah T. Roberts, “Digital Detritus: ‘Error’ and the Logic of Opacity in Social Media Content Moderation,” First Monday 23

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city. [back] 2. Thomas Fox Parry, “The Death of a Gig Worker,” The Atlantic, June 1, 2018, https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/06/gig-economy-death/561302/?utm_source=atltw. [back] 3. See National Labor Relations Board, 322 U.S. 111 (1944); Weil, The Fissured Workplace, 185–86. [back] 4

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, https://medium.com/@trebors/platform-cooperativism-vs-the-sharing-economy-2ea737f1b5ad; Alex Wood, “Why the Digital Gig Economy Needs Co-Ops and Unions,” openDemocracy, September 15, 2016, https://www.opendemocracy.net/alex-wood/why-digital-gig-economy-needs-co-ops-and-unions; Chelsea Rustrum, “Q&A with Felix Weth of Fairmondo, the Platform Co

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, no. 6 (2011): 1. See also Mark Graham, Isis Hjorth, and Vili Lehdonvirta, “Digital Labour and Development: Impacts of Global Digital Labour Platforms and the Gig Economy on Worker Livelihoods,” Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research 23, no. 2 (2017): 135–62, https://doi.org/10.1177/1024258916687250. [back] Conclusion 1

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://www.epi.org/publication/uber-and-the-labor-market-uber-drivers-compensation-wages-and-the-scale-of-uber-and-the-gig-economy/; James Manyika et al., Independent Work: Choice, Necessity, and the Gig Economy (Washington, DC: McKinsey Global Institute: October 2016), http://www.mckinsey.com/global-themes/employment-and-growth/independent-work-choice-necessity

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-and-the-gig-economy; James Manyika et al., Harnessing Automation for a Future That Works (Washington, DC: McKinsey Global Institute: January 2017), http://www.mckinsey.com/global-themes/digital-

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, 1–4 rise of, xxiv–xxv social status of, 95 as software, 69 temporary staffing industry, 63 as term, 219 n1 trajectory of, 96–101 gig economy. See on-demand employment Gig Work, Online Selling and Home Sharing (Smith), x, 242 n2 Gillespie, Tarleton, xvii glass ceilings, 113–17 Glassdoor, 17 go

Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech

by Brian Merchant  · 25 Sep 2023  · 524pp  · 154,652 words

to constrain it is an affront to the freedom to do business. Sound familiar? These arguments parallel the ones advanced by Uber and other major gig economy companies like Instacart and Doordash throughout the 2010s and 2020s. Uber’s chief innovation is not that its app summons a car to your location

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automatically on smartphone apps and following directions to a T, to avoid missing out on chances to work or incurring penalties for slack performance. “The gig economy promises flexibility and more free time, yet workers are increasingly tethered to work because of the on-demand nature of the work,” as the sociologist

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. And while the workers are ‘self-employed’ contractors and don’t answer to bosses, they remain under constant observation through a technological panopticon.… In the gig economy everything can be collected and viewed at any point.” When the artisans and workers of the 1800s saw the prison-like factory looming before them

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. Humans are underrated.” 17. “fauxtomation” Astra Taylor, “The Automation Charade,” Logic, no. 5 (August 1, 2018), https://logicmag.io/failure/the-automation-charade/. 18. “The gig economy promises flexibility” Alexandrea J. Ravenelle, Hustle and Gig: Struggling and Surviving in the Sharing Economy (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2019), 15. 19. The economic

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not care” Douglas Schifter, Facebook post, February 5, 2018. 2. He was proud Ginia Bellafante, “A Driver’s Suicide Reveals the Dark Side of the Gig Economy,” New York Times, February 6, 2018. 3. With his large frame Jessica Bruder, “Driven to Despair,” New York, May 2018. The Great Comet Returns 1

Don't Be Evil: How Big Tech Betrayed Its Founding Principles--And All of US

by Rana Foroohar  · 5 Nov 2019  · 380pp  · 109,724 words

be automated faster than more physical jobs in areas like healthcare and manufacturing. Moreover, even in fields where humans can’t be replaced entirely, the gig economy and the “sharing” economy—driven, of course, by tech firms—have dramatically increased the number of contingency workers without benefits.61 Beyond these relatively easy

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contract between employees and labor. Over the past several years, it has cemented its role as the most prolific and pugnacious among companies shaping the “gig economy,” including Airbnb, TaskRabbit, and dozens more. They are all emblematic of accelerating shifts in the way we work: 24/7, directed by technology, and without

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other, this model is a slippery slope that, some argue, ends with workers being taken advantage of. Many experts believe that the rise of the gig economy is a key reason for stagnating wages, as it has accentuated the power imbalance between workers and companies that has been increasing for the past

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our political and social systems can handle it. The depth and breadth of change being effected by the gig economy is unprecedented, and while the sheer number of workers that labor solely in the gig economy relative to the traditional economy isn’t yet as high as some academics once predicted it would be

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, at most other retailers, algorithmic scheduling has become the norm—just like “surge” pricing at Uber or Lyft. Clearly, the advent of the high-tech gig economy means different things to different kinds of workers. For the Uber driver or the delivery person, it may feel like a kind of neo-serfdom

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the company that they have helped create. The result is that for a huge number of low-level workers (who represent the bulk of the gig economy), “you’ve got a labor market that looks increasingly like a feudal agricultural hiring fair in which the lord shows up and says, ‘I’ll

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studying the effect of companies like Uber on local economies. Turner’s conclusion, which mirrors that of a growing number of economists, is that the gig economy reduces friction in labor markets, meaning it solves a real need and creates convenience, but it also creates fragmentation that tends to work better for

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handymen to yoga instructors to childcare providers—get the short end of the stick in the digital economy. But for highly educated professionals, the digital gig economy is pure upside: a way to earn more money in less time, in ever more flexible ways. Consider the life of a freelance management consultant

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, and the fact that he or she can work from home, or cheaply rent work spaces via membership schemes in companies like WeWork. The digital gig economy, it turns out, is no less bifurcated than the analog one. This is concerning, given that a spate of new research by various organizations, from

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seismic economic shifts roiling the lives of workers everywhere. But, for better or worse, it has benefited from them. Ironically, the shifts wrought by the gig economy are having a positive effect on another group: the labor movement. The labor share of the overall economic pie is at a post–World War

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the American workforce—half of what it was in the early 1980s—labor simply has no bargaining power these days, an issue exacerbated by the gig economy and automation. Yet there are signs that a new kind of labor movement may be brewing, one that is broader based, more flexible, and more

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makers of high-end goods. The Freelancers Union, which caters to higher level service workers (writers, graphic artists, photographers) who are being disrupted by the gig economy, now represents some 375,000 workers and is helping to offset declines in traditional unions. This underscores the changing nature of what it means to

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., 98, 203. 11. Rob Wile, “Here’s How Much Lyft Drivers Really Make,” CNN Money, July 11, 2017. 12. Josh Zumbrun, “How Estimates of the Gig Economy Went Wrong,” The Wall Street Journal, January 7, 2019. 13. Aimee Picchi, “Inside an Amazon Warehouse: Treating Human Beings as Robots,” CBS News, April 19

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, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2008). 21. World Trade Organization, “Impact of Technology on Labour Market Outcomes,” 2017. 22. Rana Foroohar, “Gap Between Gig Economy’s Winners and Losers Fuels Populists,” Financial Times, May 2, 2017. 23. International Monetary Fund, “World Economic Outlook, April 2017: Gaining Momentum?” April 2017. 24

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,” McKinsey Global Institute, January 2018. 28. Rana Foroohar, “The ‘Haves and Have-Mores’ in Digital America,” Financial Times, August 6, 2017. 29. Foroohar, “Gap Between Gig Economy’s Winners and Losers Fuels Populists.” 30. Rana Foroohar, “The Rise of the Superstar Company,” Financial Times, January 14, 2018. 31. Gillian Tett, “Tech Lessons

The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order: America and the World in the Free Market Era

by Gary Gerstle  · 14 Oct 2022  · 655pp  · 156,367 words

first invented as a play on the word “proletariat.” Members of this social group had experienced the downside of what was being celebrated as the “gig economy,” a world of jobs, opportunities, and affluence that the information technology (IT) revolution had called into being. New digital tools and programs had allegedly made

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report to work from nine to five, five days a week. One could labour from home, or from a nearby café wired for internet. The gig economy was laced with hopes about being one’s own boss, enjoying freedom on a daily basis, making money, and living the American dream. Obama’s

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possible for freelancers and small entrepreneurs to acquire all-important health care insurance at a reasonable cost. Neoliberalism had provided the conceptual underpinning for the gig economy by theorizing how individuals could transform themselves into entrepreneurs able to monetize material and personal assets in new ways. The novel way of thinking, for

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, on the one hand, and robust new sources of income for drivers and lessors, on the other.22 There was a downside to this new gig economy, of course. Gig entrepreneurs such as Uber drivers laboring as individuals in a market economy possessed, in reality, little control over critical aspects of their

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individuals into gig earner ranks? Suddenly many more freelancers were competing to sell their services into smaller, less hospitable markets. At moments like these, the gig economy began to resemble what economists had long called a casual labor market, casual because the only form of work available was intermittent and inadequate. Casual

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not get regular jobs after the crash or who did not want them, having convinced themselves that they could sculpt themselves into masters of the gig economy. They were also a racially diverse group of whites, blacks, Latinos, and others. They trended young. The term “precariat” had been coined by French sociologists

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and Imprisonment in 1970s America (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2017). Irwin, Miller, and Sanger-Katz, America’s Racial Divide: Charted. 22.On the new gig economy, see Sarah Kessler, Gigged: The Economy, the End of the Job and the Future of Work (London: Random House Business, 2019); Jia Tolentino, “The

…

Gig Economy Celebrates Working Yourself to Death,” New Yorker, March 22, 2017, https://www.newyorker.com/culture/jia-tolentino/the-gig-economy-celebrates-working-yourself-to-death, accessed June 28, 2021; Nathan Heller, “Is the Gig Economy Working?” New Yorker, May 8, 2017, https://www.newyorker.com

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/magazine/2017/05/15/is-the-gig-economy-working, accessed June 28, 2021; Nicole Kobie, “What Is the

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Gig Economy and Why Is It So Controversial?” Wired, September 14, 2018, https://www

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.wired.co.uk/article/what-is-the-gig-economy-meaning-definition-why-is-it-called-gig-economy, accessed September 8, 2021; Jill Lepore, “What’s Wrong with the Way We Work,” New Yorker, January 11, 2021, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/

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01/18/whats-wrong-with-the-way-we-work, accessed June 28, 2021; E. Tammy Kim, “The Gig Economy Is Coming for Your Job,” New York Times, January 10, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/10/opinion/sunday

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/gig-economy-unemployment-automation.html, accessed September 8, 2021; Aarian Marshall, “With $200 Million, Uber and Lyft Write Their Own Labor Law,” Wired, April 11, 2020, https://

…

on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), 57–58 General Electric, 172 General Motors, 221–22 George III, King, 75–76 German ordo-liberals, 92–93, 132 gig economy, 237–39 Gilbert, James, 103 Gilder, George, 109, 133–34, 160–61, 162–63, 232, 250 Gingrich, Newt, 14–15, 155–56, 163–64 Ginsberg

Hired: Six Months Undercover in Low-Wage Britain

by James Bloodworth  · 1 Mar 2018  · 256pp  · 79,075 words

way modern Britons work. It is Down and Out In Paris and London for the gig economy age.’ Matthew d’Ancona, Guardian columnist and bestselling author of Post-Truth ‘A tautly written exposé of the swindle of the gig economy and a call to arms.’ Nick Cohen, journalist and author of What’s Left

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? ‘I emerged from James Bloodworth’s quietly devastating and deeply disturbing book convinced that the “gig economy” is simply another way in which the powerful are enabled to oppress the disadvantaged.’ D. J. Taylor, author of Orwell: The Life ‘A truly devastating

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to keep pace with inflation. A million more people have become self-employed since the financial crisis, many of them working in the so-called ‘gig’ economy with few basic workers’ rights. Toiling away for five hours a week may keep you off the government’s unemployment figures, but it is not

…

on my phone – which was effectively my new boss – happened more infrequently. I had arrived back in London because I was about to join the ‘gig’ economy, a growing portion of the labour market characterised by freelance work and ‘gigs’ – flexible jobs often paid at a piece rate and usually – though not

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gigging, and in this brave new tech-utopia you could (in theory, at least) retain your freedom and autonomy while bringing home the bacon. The ‘gig’ economy operates in a sector of the economy that has been expanding rapidly in recent years. Much of the increase has occurred since the global financial

…

were better at persuading you that the whole thing was for your own good. You were ‘your own boss’, as the PR departments of the ‘gig’ economy firms never tired of telling you. And who could argue with that? 17 My own attempt to join London’s growing army of casual workers

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the long term; and certainly not in countries where consumers have a far stronger political voice. And besides, for the customer the rise of the ‘gig’ economy has been a terrific boon. You can quickly download an app from a website and, voila!, you are connected with individuals willing to provide access

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you around £15. I could get you there in my Uber for about £8. What is sometimes forgotten in the binary debate is that the ‘gig’ economy can (at least in theory) be an attractive proposition for workers, too. Or at least it could be if workers had some form of democratic

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some of the nasty firms they were working for. But it’s [the algorithm] become a bit of a monster of its own.’ In the ‘gig’ economy, whoever controls the algorithm controls what is inputted into it. This seems obvious when put like this. But tech utopians were essentially asking those of

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life when his ‘type’ is instantly recognisable. Similar theories are today propounded with respect to the growing numbers of people who toil away in the ‘gig’ economy. What the Uber driver, the courier or the van driver really require is for the state to get off their back – or so some talking

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the firm, watching what’s going on ... certainly more people there really helps.’ That was the other thing about Uber and the rest of the ‘gig’ economy: the grim atomisation of it all. It hardly resembled a ‘gig’ at all: you certainly had no fellow band members. It was just you, strapped

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at which I decided to leave the house and switch on the app. Several employment tribunals were ongoing over the status of workers in the ‘gig’ economy, but Citizens Advice believed that as many as 460,000 people could have been falsely classified as self-employed.26 This was potentially costing the

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when you feared that you were not going to take home enough money to pay the rent. In this sense, the incentives inherent to the ‘gig’ economy resemble those that draw people into casinos or bingo halls, where unpredictable rewards stimulate you just enough to reel you back in – you carry on

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are being offloaded onto the state, and by extension onto taxpayers and other workers. Due to the paucity of many people’s earnings in the ‘gig’ economy, signing on for social security when you fall ill is sometimes the only option. Thus the taxpayer is essentially out of pocket twice over – first

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me because the very idea of getting sacked ... I mean, I’m self-employed!’ Ultimately, it is judges who will decide whether or not the ‘gig’ economy workforce is genuinely self-employed. But it did feel as if there was an overwhelming wave of misinformation being unleashed on both those who used

…

the apps for work and the wider public about the nature of the ‘gig’ economy. In his book on Dickens, the biographer Peter Ackroyd wrote that if a person living today were to somehow find themselves in a tavern or

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the atmosphere around him’. I suspect that if some of those who today make a comfortable living writing newspaper columns extolling the virtues of the ‘gig’ economy were to find themselves doing some of the lowly jobs that keep London afloat, they too would eventually sink to their knees prostrate with illness

…

. As the grievances of the ‘gig’ economy contractors have become louder, so it feels as if journalists and commentators have become more willing to acquiesce in the fiction that workers’ rights are

…

forward with their own cases, rather than any rulings being automatically rolled out to others in the sector. I am sure that workers in the ‘gig’ economy often do enjoy their flexibility and the freedom this grants them to work as and when they choose – when it is meaningful. For the most

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,35 with some of those falling victim delivery drivers whose mopeds have been targeted by vicious thieves. Some of the most important work in the ‘gig’ economy is being done by the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain and – for drivers – by United Private Hire Drivers, a branch of the IWGB. The

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IWGB was, at the time of writing, fighting, inter alia, for Deliveroo to recognise the first collective bargaining agreement in the ‘gig’ economy. It was the General Secretary of the IWGB, Jason Moyer-Lee, who said something that would stick with me when I asked him why customers

…

/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/articles/trendsinselfemploymentintheuk/2001to2015 10 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jobs/12106318/The-self-employed-will-overtake-the-public-sector-with-the-gig-economy.html 11 https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/taxis-and-private-hire/licensing/licensing-information#on-this-page-0 12 https://www.theguardian.com/business

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rebellion against 149 consumerism and 146 debt, reliance on 62 English culture overwhelmed by 32–3, 198–9 fall of Berlin Wall (1989) and 263 ‘gig’ economy and 210, 215, 232 platform capitalism 215 religious fatalism appropriated by 161 care sector: Eastern European migrant labour and 114–15 length of home care

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Mag seller, Blackpool) 122 GDP 146 General Election (2015) 109 General Strike (1926) 148, 149, 173 gentrification 219 Geoff (former miner) 189, 190, 191, 193 ‘gig’ economy 2, 208–10, 217–18, 232, 236, 242, 243–4, 248, 249–50, 252, 257 see also Uber Gissing, George: New Grub Street 64 GMB

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George, David 172 loan sharks 151, 156 local councils 104–5, 164 London 201–57 accommodation/housing in 65, 203–8, 218 gentrification in 219 ‘gig’ economy in 208–57, 263 homelessness in 95 migrant labour in 205–6, 213, 239 wealth divide in 207–8, 238 London Congestion Charge 254 London

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, 22–7, 30, 32, 33, 34, 44, 45, 46, 51, 53, 57, 61–2, 65, 71–5, 258, 260–1 care home workers 114–16 ‘gig’ economy and 203–6, 213, 239 restaurant workers 154 retail sector and 128–9 Miliband, Ed 109 mining see coal mining Miners’ Federation of Great Britain

…

–35 immigration and 30–4, 193–4 Tesco and 58–9, 62–3 Scargill, Arthur 175 scientific management theories 17 Scotland Yard 90 self-employment: ’gig’ economy and 214–15, 222, 229–30, 234, 243–4, 245, 246, 249, 250–1 increase in numbers of workers 2, 209 ‘independent contractors’ and 209

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and 160, 181, 184–5, 186 care sector and 88 coal industry decline and 55–6, 173, 174, 263–4 decline of 2, 3, 35 ‘gig’ economy and 230, 257, 261 objectivism and 228 oil crisis (1973) and 122 Thatcher and 123, 174, 193, 263–4 Wales and 144, 149 see also

Exponential: How Accelerating Technology Is Leaving Us Behind and What to Do About It

by Azeem Azhar  · 6 Sep 2021  · 447pp  · 111,991 words

the Exponential Age. While Uber is probably the most successful platform-based freelance work company, it did not pioneer the concept. The origins of the gig economy – where short-term, freelance tasks are allocated by an online service – lie in the Amazon Mechanical Turk platform, launched in 2005, a few years before

…

a walker for your dog. In time, the term ‘crowdsourcing’ – which often referred to unpaid, non-commercial work – gave way to a new term: the ‘gig economy’. This whole new way of working was underpinned by the emerging exponential economy. Crowdsourcing depended on digital platforms. As we’ve seen, these platforms were

…

of intangible assets. And it was all facilitated by two key general purpose technologies of our age: the internet, the smartphone. Ten years in, and gig economy platforms are continuing to grow exponentially. They have upended once-stable markets. By 2017, a mere six years after entering New York, Uber’s drivers

…

’t capture. Gig work is a more imminent and transformative force than mass automation. But what does it actually mean for workers? Evangelists for the gig economy – among them, naturally, the founders of leading gig companies – say that their model helps workers in two key ways: it can make markets bigger and

…

can work wherever they have an internet connection and share a language with a client. The platform UpWork is a great example of how the gig economy can help workers access the global economy, often in part-time roles. I’ve personally used the platform to hire developers from Egypt, Bulgaria, Pakistan

…

employers contribute to payroll tax. Lower tax participation means less booty in government coffers to fund those social programmes. For highly casual labour markets, the gig economy could be a route to a large, more formal sector – with more protections for workers and a more robust tax base for governments.55 So

…

workers earned less than the equivalent of £8.44 per hour, only a little over the British national minimum wage.56 Low pay in the gig economy is also common in the EU. Platform workers in Germany make 29 per cent less than the local statutory minimum wage, while workers in France

…

office in south London in 2016 to protest, they were not only criticising their low pay. They were questioning the core of what makes the gig economy giants, especially ride-hailing companies, successful: algorithmic management. ‘We are people, not Uber’s tools,’ they yelled. These people and millions of other gig workers

…

, such collectives can be truly global in a way internationalist trade unionists of the early twentieth century could only have dreamed of. In January 2020, gig-economy drivers from around the world gathered in Oxford for the first meeting of the International Alliance of App-Based Transport Workers, which was organising for

…

: Uber vs. Lyft’, Bloomberg Second Measure, 2020 <https://secondmeasure.com/datapoints/rideshare-industry-overview/> [accessed 23 September 2020]. 54 ‘Gig Economy Research’, Gov.uk, 7 February 2018 <https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/gig-economy-research> [accessed 21 September 2020]. 55 Ravi Agrawal, ‘The Hidden Benefits of Uber’, Foreign Policy, 16 July 2018 <https

…

://foreignpolicy.com/2018/07/16/why-india-gives-uber-5-stars-gig-economy-jobs/> [accessed 21 September 2020]. 56 Department for Business, Energy

…

& Industrial Strategy, ‘Gig Economy Research’, Gov.uk, 7 February 2018 <https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/gig-economy-research> [accessed 21 September 2020]. 57 Directorate General for Internal Policies, The Social

…

<https://www.cbsnews.com/news/amazon-bernie-sanders-elizabeth-warren-union-vote/> [accessed 29 March 2021]. 90 Bethan Staton, ‘The Upstart Unions Taking on the Gig Economy and Outsourcing’, Financial Times, 18 January 2020 <https://www.ft.com/content/576c68ea-3784-11ea-a6d3-9a26f8c3cba4> [accessed 12 January 2021]. 91 ‘Table 5. Union

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_01794> Agrawal, Ravi, ‘The Hidden Benefits of Uber’, Foreign Policy, 16 July 2018 <https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/07/16/why-india-gives-uber-5-stars-gig-economy-jobs/> [accessed 21 September 2020] Allen, Robert C., ‘Engels’ Pause: Technical Change, Capital Accumulation, and Inequality in the British Industrial Revolution’, Explorations in Economic History

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-19 pandemic (2019–21), 12–13, 59, 78–9, 131, 245–9 automation and, 127, 135, 136 cities and, 183 contact-tracing apps, 222–3 gig economy and, 146 lockdowns, 12, 152, 176, 183, 246 manufacturing and, 176 misinformation and, 202–4, 247–8 preprint servers and, 60 recession (2020–21), 178

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employment, 10, 71, 125–65 automation, 125–42 collective bargaining, 147, 149, 154, 156, 162–5 dehumanisation and, 71, 154, 158 flexicurity, 160–61, 257 gig economy, 10, 71, 142–9, 153, 162, 164, 239, 252, 255 income inequality, 155–8, 161, 168 lump of labour fallacy, 139 management, 149–54, 158

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, 199, 209 Genghis Khan, 44 GEnie, 100 genome sequencing, 40–41, 90, 229, 234, 245–7, 250, 252 Germany, 75, 134, 147 Giddens, Anthony, 82 gig economy, 10, 71, 142–9, 153, 162, 164, 239, 252, 255 Gilbreth, Lillian, 150 Ginsparg, Paul, 59 GitHub, 58, 60 GlaxoSmithKline, 229–30 global financial crisis

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Taiwan, 181, 212 Talkspace, 144 Tallinn, Estonia, 190 Tang, Audrey, 212 Tanzania, 42, 183 TaskRabbit, 144 Tasmania, Australia, 197 taxation, 10, 63, 96, 118–19 gig economy and, 146 superstar companies and, 118–19 Taylor, Frederick Winslow, 150, 152, 153, 154 Tel Aviv, Israel, 181 telecom companies, 122–3 Tencent, 65, 104

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