2 ms·

Isn't this called "having a job"?

smt88 5y ago
The difference is that it's often one-on-one work doing unskilled, sometimes humiliating jobs for very low pay with no hope of a promotion or career, no benefits, etc. It's perhaps the indignity and the massive disparity in income that seem distasteful in the richest countries on earth.
- missedthecue 5y ago
  Why should the only jobs be careers? I don't think most people delivering takeout want the pressure of trying to get promotions and advancement. They like the flexibility. Lots of retired people I know drive Uber/Lyft to get themselves out of the house. They've already had a career. They don't want another one.
  - giantrobot 5y ago
    This leads back to the McJob [0] problem. McJobs lead to underemployment, the oft ignored cousin of unemployment. While the McJobs are often advertised by employers as extra money for e.g. high school students, for a lot of people they're primary jobs. For that cohort they want a better job but can't find them so take what they can get with the McJob. What we've seen in the past two decades with the four recessions we've experienced is companies cutting the "good" jobs and never bringing them back. In the overall job market they're replaced with McJobs, so the U3 rate goes down while the U6 goes up or remains steady and everyone rejoices because what the hell is the U6? McJobs also tend to have pretty high costs to the employees that aren't always obvious or even recognized. Split shifts and variable schedules (and demands for complete availability) make scheduling anything difficult or impossible. Getting child care is expensive. No medical benefits mean anyone not eligible for coverage under their parents' plans (provided they have insurance) mean ridiculous expenses for medical care. Wear and tear of vehicles for commuting to the split shifts or driving self-owned vehicles as a gig is expensive. Not all jobs need to be careers but we have an environment where most people working a non-career job are just wage slaves. [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/McJob https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/McJob
- golergka 5y ago
  Unskilled, humiliating jobs for very low pay with no hope of a promotion or career always existed. If this industry doesn't create more jobs like that, it means it's only getting the ones that were already here, and doesn't change anything. If this industry creates more jobs like that, shouldn't it mean that competition for the lower-skilled workers will increase and their pay will go up?
hogFeast 5y ago
No. You don't have a "job" if you work for most of these companies. You are self-employed.

The difference is that it's often one-on-one work doing unskilled, sometimes humiliating jobs for very low pay with no hope of a promotion or career, no benefits, etc. It's perhaps the indignity and the massive disparity in income that seem distasteful in the richest countries on earth.

missedthecue 5y ago
Why should the only jobs be careers? I don't think most people delivering takeout want the pressure of trying to get promotions and advancement. They like the flexibility. Lots of retired people I know drive Uber/Lyft to get themselves out of the house. They've already had a career. They don't want another one.
- giantrobot 5y ago
  This leads back to the McJob [0] problem. McJobs lead to underemployment, the oft ignored cousin of unemployment. While the McJobs are often advertised by employers as extra money for e.g. high school students, for a lot of people they're primary jobs. For that cohort they want a better job but can't find them so take what they can get with the McJob. What we've seen in the past two decades with the four recessions we've experienced is companies cutting the "good" jobs and never bringing them back. In the overall job market they're replaced with McJobs, so the U3 rate goes down while the U6 goes up or remains steady and everyone rejoices because what the hell is the U6? McJobs also tend to have pretty high costs to the employees that aren't always obvious or even recognized. Split shifts and variable schedules (and demands for complete availability) make scheduling anything difficult or impossible. Getting child care is expensive. No medical benefits mean anyone not eligible for coverage under their parents' plans (provided they have insurance) mean ridiculous expenses for medical care. Wear and tear of vehicles for commuting to the split shifts or driving self-owned vehicles as a gig is expensive. Not all jobs need to be careers but we have an environment where most people working a non-career job are just wage slaves. [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/McJob https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/McJob
golergka 5y ago
Unskilled, humiliating jobs for very low pay with no hope of a promotion or career always existed. If this industry doesn't create more jobs like that, it means it's only getting the ones that were already here, and doesn't change anything. If this industry creates more jobs like that, shouldn't it mean that competition for the lower-skilled workers will increase and their pay will go up?

hogFeast 5y ago

No. You don't have a "job" if you work for most of these companies. You are self-employed.