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> 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 th
by 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 agoUhm, 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 agoSee "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 agoYou'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 agoYes, 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 agoSweet. 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.