[ad_1]
PARIS: Whether in Paris, Kuala Lumpur or California, workers in the gig economy fear they will no longer be able to survive on the meager income from jobs that leave them increasingly vulnerable.
The term “concert” dates back a century to jazz musicians who used it to refer to a one-time show, but now the “concert economy” involves millions of people in all kinds of jobs, from Uber drivers to delivery drivers.
Wissem Inal travels more than 700 km a week on his scooter and delivers up to 10 take-out meals in the Paris suburbs every night.
“Right now, with the shutdown, I end up with € 500 (RM2,467) net a month,” said the 32-year-old who has driven for Deliveroo (an online food delivery company) since 2017, but also accepts jobs. for Uber Eats and Stuart.
Inal is having trouble seeing the “bright side” of her job at the moment and is critical of Deliveroo’s algorithm calculations that decide how much to offer her for jobs.
“A delivery worth € 6 at noon is only worth € 3 at night. You can’t make a living from this job, unless you’re willing to live like a slave, ”he said.
He recently joined an association of concert delivery conductors that seeks to improve working conditions.
“We should be able to defend ourselves.”
Flexibility or on demand?
When Erica Mighetto started driving with Lyft three years ago, she said, “I loved it.”
His oldest son had left home and he thought it would be a big move until he found a job in accounting or property management.
“I really enjoyed, you know, choosing my own schedule,” he told AFP. “I thought life was good.”
Mighetto lived in Sacramento, California, but drove more than an hour to the San Francisco area on weekends because there was more work in the richest cities.
He slept in his car or shelling out $ 25 for a room.
Mighetto was earning between $ 60 and $ 80 an hour before expenses in 2017, but a series of rate cuts saw him drop to $ 20 at the beginning of the year and less than $ 10 in March.
She finds the algorithms opaque and pernicious.
“So you know me personally,” Mighetto said. “And the bonus offers were changed, you know, based on what he was willing to accept.”
If your friends received bonus offers of $ 50 for taking 20 trips a week, the algorithm would offer you $ 350, but for 120 trips a week.
To get enough jobs and claim the bonus, drivers would accept lower rates. “You are in a black hole like a vicious circle,” Mighetto said.
She doesn’t buy the argument that live work is flexible.
“I personally call it work on demand… there is no flexibility, you have to work when there is demand. You go to work late into the night, on long weekends, and on all holidays. “
In the spring, he stopped driving for fear of contracting Covid-19, but had to fight for unemployment benefits of $ 450 per week instead of the $ 167 paid to concert workers.
It received a supplemental federal benefit of $ 600 per week that the United States introduced as part of its Covid-19 stimulus measures, but it ran out after four months.
Mighetto is embittered by a referendum in California, backed by Uber, to repeal a state law that would have forced concert companies to recognize their drivers as employees and pay them minimum wages and benefits.
California voters approved the measure with 58% of the vote.
“We shouldn’t strip workers of basic job protections so people can get cheap travel,” he said.
Juggle the platforms
Twenty-seven-year-old Devon Gutekunst meets DoorDash, which just raised nearly $ 3.4 billion in its stock market debut.
Your smartphone offers you a job: $ 5.50 for a 7.4 km delivery in 30 minutes.
“That is the equivalent of US $ 11 an hour, it is very little. My personal minimum is $ 18 an hour. I often earn more than that, because I have a strategy, ”Gutekunst said.
Part of this is being selective and focusing on West Los Angeles and the coastal cities of Marina Del Rey and Santa Monica.
But it mainly consists of playing different platforms with each other.
Gutekunst’s job acceptance rate for DoorDash was 12% that day, but he said it can often be only 2%.
“To make decent money … you really have to juggle, play with all the offers for a living.”
RM110 per 14 hour shift in Malaysia
Amal Fahmi, 24, keeps staring at her cell phone and the Grab delivery app, popular in Southeast Asia.
He is one of many Malaysians who make a living delivering food, medicine and shopping by motorcycle in Petaling Jaya, Selangor. Before Covid-19 arrived, I was a Grab pilot in Johor.
“I could easily earn a living comfortably. But after the virus outbreak, life became difficult because many people lost their jobs and my income was reduced, “Amal told AFP.
Given the bleak prospects in Johor, he headed to the capital city, Kuala Lumpur.
“There were no job opportunities in my hometown because I lack academic qualifications,” he said.
Amal makes a little over $ 700 a month if she works long hours. After 14 grueling hours, he earns $ 27.
“Look around you, there are a lot of us making deliveries. It’s getting difficult, ”he said, adding that he would prefer a stable job but that he does not completely regret the path he has chosen.
What motivates me is that I am the boss … I can manage my time and, most importantly, nobody scolds me ”.
