Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-pjpqr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-15T20:27:14.741Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Food for Thought: A Survey on the Nature of Work Precarity in Platform-Based On-Demand Work

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 March 2023

Sazzad Parwez Open the ORCID record for Sazzad Parwez [Opens in a new window]
Sazzad Parwez*
Affiliation:
School of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, Auro University, Surat, Gujarat, India
*
Email: sazzad.parwez@gmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This study aims to empirically understand the precarity of food delivery work at online platforms particularly during the COVID-19-led devastations. Food delivery workers are the new form of the global phenomenon in the labour market. This is a result of access to cheap internet and smartphones among customers, which has enabled the platform to create a new form of labour market. Platform-based food aggregators use the terminology of 'delivery partners’ for these workers which alters the traditional employer-employee relationships, allowing corporations to evade labour-related responsibilities. This makes working conditions at digital platforms highly precarious and is reflected by low income and the non-existence of labour welfare measures. The COVID-19 pandemic and resultant lockdowns have worsened the precarious nature of on-demand work. It has caused a massive loss of livelihoods and erosion of income, showing the importance of traditional employer-employee relationships. These precarious working conditions call for affirmative actions in the form of regulations.

Keywords

Work precarityCOVID-19 pandemicfood aggregatorsfood delivery workers
Type
Article
Information
Social Policy and Society , First View , pp. 1 - 17
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bhakta, P. (2020) ‘Zomato, Swiggy try to build customer confidence but it’s an uphill task’, Money Control, Mumbai, 20 April, https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/startup/zomato-swiggy-try-to-build-customer-confidence-but-its-an-uphill-task-5167651.html [accessed 25.12.2020].Google Scholar
Bourdieu, P. (1998) Practical Reason: On the Theory of Action, Cambridge: Polity Press, 1–153.Google Scholar
Briken, K., Chillas, S., Krzywdzinski, M. and Marks, A. (2017) The New Digital Workplace: How New Technologies Revolutionise Work, London: Palgrave Macmillan, 1–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chadda, R. (2020) ‘Swiggy vs Zomato: battle of India’s biggest food aggregator’, DNA, 21 May, https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/report-swiggy-vs-zomato-battle-of-india-s-biggest-food-aggregator-2820924 [accessed 11.09.2020].Google Scholar
Cherry, M. A. and Antonio, A. (2017) ‘"Dependent contractors” in the gig economy: a comparative approach’, American University Law Review, 66, 3, 635–90.Google Scholar
Coase, R. (1937) ‘The nature of the firm’, Economica, 4, 16, 386–405.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Stefano, V. (2016) ‘The rise of the “just-in-time workforce”: on-demand work, crowdwork, and labour protection in the “gig-economy”’, Comparative Labour Law and Policy Journal, 37, 2, 471–504.Google Scholar
Dixit, P. (2020) ‘Thousands of gig workers can’t make a living unless they install a controversial contact tracing app first’, BuzzFeed News, 17 June, https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/pranavdixit/coronavirus-india-forced-install-contact-tracing [accessed 18.11.2020].Google Scholar
Fidler, D. (2016) Work, Interrupted the New Labour Economics of Platforms, Palo Alto, CA: Institute for the Future, https://legacy.iftf.org/fileadmin/user_upload/downloads/wfi/IFTF_Work-Interrupted_FullReport.pdf [accessed 13.02.2022].Google Scholar
Gandini, A. (2019) ‘Labour process theory and the gig economy’, Human Relations, 72, 1039–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Google and Boston Consulting Group (2020) Demystifying the Online Food Consumer: An $8 Billion Opportunity, https://web-assets.bcg.com/img-src/Demystifying-the-Online-Food-Consumer_tcm9-238295.pdf [accessed 17.02.2021].Google Scholar
Griesbach, K., Reich, A., Elliott-Negri, L. and Milkman, R. (2019) ‘Algorithmic Control in platform food delivery work’, Socius, 5, DOI: doi.org/10.1177/2378023119870041.Google Scholar
Hall, J. V. and Krueger, A. (2015) An Analysis of the Labour Market for Uber’s Driver-Partners in the United States, Princeton University, Industrial Relations Section, No 587, http://dataspace.princeton.edu/jspui/handle/88435/dsp010z708z67d [accessed 30.11.2021].Google Scholar
Heeks, R. (2017) Decent Work and the Digital Gig Economy: A Developing Country Perspective on Employment Impacts and Standards in Online Outsourcing, Crowdwork, etc., Development Informatics Working Paper Series No. 71, Manchester: Centre for Development Informatics, Global Development Institute.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Indian Express (2020) ‘Covid impact: over 4,400 jobs cut by 5 major Indian companies in 1 month’, 27 May, https://indianexpress.com/article/business/companies/covid-19-impact-over-4-4k-jobs-cut-by-5-major-indian-cos-in-1-month-uber-lays-off-nearly-600-people-6428756/ [accessed 25.10.2020].Google Scholar
International Labour Organisation (2016) Non-Standard Employment Around the World: Understanding Challenges, Shaping Prospects, Geneva: ILO, https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@dgreports/@dcomm/@publ/documents/publication/wcms_534326.pdf [accessed 19.12.2020].Google Scholar
International Labour Organisation (2019) Informal Employment Trends in the Indian Economy: Persistent Informality, but Growing Positive Development, Working Paper No. 254, Employment Policy Department, Geneva: ILO. https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_emp/---ifp_skills/documents/publication/wcms_734503.pdf [accessed 04.11.2021].Google Scholar
Kalleberg, A. L. (2018) Precarious Lives: Job Insecurity and Well-Being in Rich Democracies, Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Lapavitsas, C. (2011) ‘Theorising financialisation’, Work Employment and Society, 25, 4, 611–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marx, K. ([1867] 1967) Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, Volume 1, New York: International Publishers.Google Scholar
Ministry of Labour and Employment (2020) The Code on Social Security 2020, Government of India, New Delhi, https://labour.gov.in/sites/default/files/SS_Code_Gazette.pdf [accessed 29.03.2021].Google Scholar
Moore, P. V. and Joyce, S. (2020) ‘Black box or hidden abode? The expansion and exposure of platform work managerialism’, Review of International Political Economy 27, 4, 926–48.Google Scholar
National Statistical Office (2022) Estimates of Gross Domestic Product for the Second Quarter (July-September) of 2021-22, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Govt of India, New Delhi, https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1776500 [accessed 11.09.2021].Google Scholar
Parwez, S. (2015) ‘Modified labour welfare measure for special economic zone and implications’, Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, 50, 3, 386–96.Google Scholar
Parwez, S. (2016) ‘Labour and labour welfare in special economic zones in India with special reference to Gujarat’, South Asian Survey, 23, 2, 1–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parwez, S. and Meena, K. (2021) ‘Worlds apart in India: analysis of contractualisation of labor and evidence from labor market discrimination’, Forum for Development Studies, 48, 3, 409–40.Google Scholar
Perkiss, S. (2018) ‘Postcapitalist precarious work and those in the ‘drivers’ seat: exploring the motivations and lived experiences of Uber drivers in Canada’, Social and Environmental Accountability Journal, 38, 3, 228–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Piasna, A. and Drahokoupil, J. (2019) Digital labour in Central and Eastern Europe: Evidence from the ETUI Internet and Platform Work Survey, Working Paper 2019.12, Brussels: ETUI.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Raj, A. (2020) ‘Scarce work, irregular earnings: drivers, delivery agents struggle’, The Quint, Mumbai, 12 May, https://www.thequint.com/news/india/karnataka-gig-economy-scarce-work-irregular-earnings-drivers-delivery-agents-struggle [accessed 13.08.2020].Google Scholar
Ranipeta, S. S. (2020) ‘App-based drivers, delivery executives protest for adequate safety gear, better income’, The News Minute, Mumbai, 9 June, https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/app-based-drivers-delivery-executives-protest-adequate-safety-gear-better-income-126197 [accessed 07.01.2021].Google Scholar
Rosenblat, A. and Stark, L. (2016) ‘Algorithmic labour and information asymmetries: a case study of Uber’s drivers’, International Journal of Communication, 10, 27, 3758–84.Google Scholar
Rubery, J., Grimshaw, D., Keizer, A. and Johnson, M. (2018) ‘Challenges and contradictions in the ‘normalising’ of precarious work’, Work, Employment and Society, 32, 3, 509–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schor, J. B., Attwood-Charles, W., Cansoy, M., Ladegaard, I. and Wengronowitz, R. (2020) ‘Dependence and precarity in the platform economy’, Theory and Society, 49, 5–6, 833–61.Google ScholarPubMed
Snyder, B. (2016) The Disrupted Workplace: Time and the Moral Order of Flexible Capitalism, Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Society for Human Resource Management (2021) ‘UK Supreme Court’s Uber ruling may prompt gig-economy’, Society for Human Resource Management, Virginia, 14 April, https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/global-hr/pages/uk-uber-ruling-changes.aspx [accessed 10.09.2021].Google Scholar
Srnicek, N. (2017) ‘The challenges of platform capitalism: understanding the logic of a new business model’, Juncture, 23, 4, 254–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Standing, G. (2016) The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class, London: Bloomsbury Publishing.Google Scholar
Stewart, A. and Stanford, J. (2017) ‘Regulating work in the gig economy: what are the options?’, The Economic and Labour Relations Review, 28, 3, 420–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sundararajan, A. (2016) The Sharing Economy: The End of Employment and the Rise of Crowd-Based Capitalism, Cambridge: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Veen, A., Barratt, T. and Goods, C. (2020) ‘ Platform-capital’s ‘appetite’ for control: a labour process analysis of food-delivery work in Australia’, Work, Employment and Society, 34, 3, 388–406.Google Scholar
Weil, D. (2014) The Fissured Workplace, Cambridge: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zwick, A. (2018) ‘Welcome to the gig economy: neoliberal industrial relations and the case of Uber’, GeoJournal, 83, 4, 679–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar