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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 ago 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 Deliveroo delivery teams.
Algorithm slaves
Wissem Inal rides more than 700 kilometers (450 miles) a week on his scooter, delivering up to 10 take-out meals in the suburbs of Paris in France every night.
“Right now, with the lockdown I end up with € 500 net a month,” said the 32-year-old who has driven for Deliveroo since 2017 but also takes 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 (RM 29.69) at noon is only € 3 (RM 14.84) at night. You cannot make a living from this job, unless you are willing to live like a slave.”
He recently joined an association of concert delivery drivers that seeks to improve working conditions.
“We should be able to defend ourselves,” he says.
‘Flexibility’ or ‘on demand’?
When Erica Mighetto started driving with Lyft three years ago, “I just loved it,” she said.
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 hours,” he said. “I thought life was good.”
Mighetto lived in Sacramento, California, United States, 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 US $ 60 and US $ 80 (RM243 to RM324) an hour before spending in 2017, but a series of rate cuts caused it to drop to US $ 20 (RM81) earlier in the year and less than US $ $ 10 (RM41) in March.
She finds the algorithms opaque and pernicious.
“So he knows me personally,” Mighetto said. “And the bonus offers were changed, you know, based on what he was willing to accept.”
If your friends received $ 50 bonus offers for taking 20 trips per week, the algorithm would offer you $ 350, but for 120 trips per week.
To get enough jobs and claim the bonus, drivers would accept lower rates.
“You are in this vicious cycle like a black hole,” 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 nights, long weekends and all holidays.”
In the spring, he stopped driving for fear of contracting Covid-19, but had to fight for unemployment benefits of US $ 450 per week instead of the US $ 167 paid to concert workers.
He received a supplemental federal benefit of US $ 600 (RM2,430) 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 platforms
Twenty-seven-year-old Devon Gutekunst delivers for DoorDash, which just raised nearly US $ 3.4 billion (RM13.77 billion) in its debut on the stock exchange.
Your smartphone offers you a job: US $ 5.50 (RM22.28) for a 4.6 mile (7.4 km) delivery in 30 minutes.
“That’s the equivalent of US $ 11 (RM44.55) an hour, it’s very little,” Gutekunst said.
“My personal minimum is US $ 18 (RM 72.90) an hour. I often earn more than that, because I have a strategy.”
Part of this is being selective and focusing on West Los Angeles, California, the United States 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 two percent.
“To make decent money … you really have to juggle, play with all the offers for a living.”
US $ 27 (RM109.35) 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 makes a living delivering food, medicine and shopping on a motorcycle in Petaling Jaya, a prosperous suburb of Kuala Lumpur.
Prior to the Covid-19 impact, he was a Grab pilot in Johor, South Malaysia.
“I could easily earn a living. But after the virus outbreak, life became difficult because many people lost their jobs and my income was reduced,” Amal told AFP while waiting outside a department store for her ninth order of the day. .
Given the bleak prospects in Johor, he headed for the capital.
“There were no job opportunities in my hometown because I lack academic qualifications,” he explained.
Amal makes a little over US $ 700 (RM2,835) a month if she works long hours. That day it reached its daily average of US $ 27 (RM109.35) after 14 grueling hours.
“Look around you, there are a lot of us making deliveries. It’s getting difficult,” he said.
Amal would prefer a stable job but she does not completely regret the path she has chosen.
What motivates me is that I am the boss … I can manage my time and most importantly, nobody scolds me ”, he laughed. – AFP
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