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So, in the end, the analogy breaks: turns out, the companies found out a way to procure $10 bills for ~$6 and then (after initial growth phase) to get it as low

So, in the end, the analogy breaks: turns out, the companies found out a way to procure $10 bills for ~$6 and then (after initial growth phase) to get it as low as ~$3-4 and finally make a profit. Now, the logical question is to ask, why is anyone willing to provide this $10 bill for such a low price to begin with? Or, to switch from the analogy back to the subject matter, why are people singing up for the gig economy jobs? The author puts the blame on the unicorns - but they did not create the environment in which a gig worker is willing to accept such a job.

username223 8y ago
> why are people singing up for the gig economy jobs? Despair and deception. Companies have figured out how to shift costs onto their employees, then claim that those employees are "independent contractors." Uber is a global taxi company that pays millions of employees starvation wages. It sells itself as an SV "technology" company that pays a few thousand employees a few hundred thousand dollars a year to convince people to wear out their cars for less than minimum wage.
- golergka 8y ago
  Uhm, but these are different companies that start with this proposition for workers from the beginning. That's not what's happening: the old and new models of employment are offered by different companies that compete on the same labour market. And new companies that work with the gig model did not create this labour market.
  - username223 8y ago
    See "deception:" most people underestimate the cost of using their car as a taxi or delivery vehicle. This is also why Uber would be much less profitable if it deployed its own self-driving cars, and probably has to convince "independent contractors" to buy and maintain its fleet.
    - golergka 8y ago
      You're talking about costs, but why does this matter at all? It's a market, so you should talk about supply and demand instead. People who decide to work for Uber have plenty of other options: stay without a job, land other low-paying job, etc... Uber is not their only possible employer, nor it is in a cartel with other low-wage job companies. It cannot dictate it terms to employees. If they accept the Uber's offer, it's only because that's what labour market is like. Trying to blame it at Uber or inventing some kind of evil conspiracies are all futile attempts to omit a simple depressing fact: people working at these low-wage jobs don't have opportunities to do anything that would be more valued by society.
      - username223 8y ago
        > people working at these low-wage jobs don't have opportunities to do anything that would be more valued by society. And that same society made Travis Kalanick the 115th richest person in the world. There are two sides to this equation, and shrugging your shoulders and saying "supply and demand" is taking a side.
        golergka 8y ago
        Yes, and after my life improved so significantly after old-style taxis have been replaced by taxi apps, I'm more than content with Kalanick's compensation.
        username223 8y ago
        Sweet. Those people who drive for less than minimum wage are mostly water, but they also contain proteins and other trace elements. A centrifuge can separate that out.

username223 8y ago

> why are people singing up for the gig economy jobs? Despair and deception. Companies have figured out how to shift costs onto their employees, then claim that those employees are "independent contractors." Uber is a global taxi company that pays millions of employees starvation wages. It sells itself as an SV "technology" company that pays a few thousand employees a few hundred thousand dollars a year to convince people to wear out their cars for less than minimum wage.

golergka 8y ago
Uhm, but these are different companies that start with this proposition for workers from the beginning. That's not what's happening: the old and new models of employment are offered by different companies that compete on the same labour market. And new companies that work with the gig model did not create this labour market.
- username223 8y ago
  See "deception:" most people underestimate the cost of using their car as a taxi or delivery vehicle. This is also why Uber would be much less profitable if it deployed its own self-driving cars, and probably has to convince "independent contractors" to buy and maintain its fleet.
  - golergka 8y ago
    You're talking about costs, but why does this matter at all? It's a market, so you should talk about supply and demand instead. People who decide to work for Uber have plenty of other options: stay without a job, land other low-paying job, etc... Uber is not their only possible employer, nor it is in a cartel with other low-wage job companies. It cannot dictate it terms to employees. If they accept the Uber's offer, it's only because that's what labour market is like. Trying to blame it at Uber or inventing some kind of evil conspiracies are all futile attempts to omit a simple depressing fact: people working at these low-wage jobs don't have opportunities to do anything that would be more valued by society.
    - username223 8y ago
      > people working at these low-wage jobs don't have opportunities to do anything that would be more valued by society. And that same society made Travis Kalanick the 115th richest person in the world. There are two sides to this equation, and shrugging your shoulders and saying "supply and demand" is taking a side.
      - golergka 8y ago
        Yes, and after my life improved so significantly after old-style taxis have been replaced by taxi apps, I'm more than content with Kalanick's compensation.
        username223 8y ago
        Sweet. Those people who drive for less than minimum wage are mostly water, but they also contain proteins and other trace elements. A centrifuge can separate that out.