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I was a substitute teacher for two school years. Remember how mean we all were to subs in school? The really horrible thing wasn't the kids though, but that I

I was a substitute teacher for two school years. Remember how mean we all were to subs in school? The really horrible thing wasn't the kids though, but that I was essentially a gig worker (this was before Uber was widespread so the term hadn't really taken off). I had no guaranteed hours. Instead, schools in the area would post to a website when they needed a sub. Those jobs would be put on the site and the first person to pick them up would get them. This meant usually a couple hours a night refreshing that page, waiting for jobs to trickle in, and pouncing on them. My only computer at the time was a crappy little 7-inch EeePC with the tiny tiny keys. I did end up automating some of the tedium but I still had to actually decide if the job was worth it -- some of the schools were so far away that it was barely worth it after figuring in gas money, and some classrooms were such disciplinary nightmares that it wasn't worth my sanity. If I didn't get a gig the night before, I would need to wake up at 4:30am to do the same: shower, eat, get dressed, wait for the last minute jobs to show up, hope to snag one, then jump in the car and drive hopefully in time for first bell at about 7:15-7:45am (differed by school). Sometimes I would do all that, driving 45m to some rural school, only to find later on payday that they had cheaped out and not paid me for a prep hour, saving themselves pocket change in order to screw me out of 50 minutes of pay. With hustle, I could usually get work on school days, though probably every other week I'd have a day where there was no work (and therefore no pay). I had to wear a suit and tie every day as well (or else schools would complain to my company that I was unprofessional) even when I knew for a fact that the school had a more casual dress code, or did "jeans Friday", etc. When I was really desperate (if I'd had a few no-work days that pay period, for example), I would sit at the computer until lunch time hoping to pick up half-day gigs. Again, none of this time looking for jobs is compensated in any way. It was a truly dystopian experience and is the reason I have never ordered DoorDash, Shipt, TaskRabbit, etc. and have only used Uber in dire situations where I can't take public transit and I don't have access to any vehicle or the ability to bum a ride from a friend. Treating employees this way (no guaranteed hours, unpaid scrambling for individual gigs, etc.) is simply evil.

s1artibartfast 4y ago
>Treating employees this way (no guaranteed hours, unpaid scrambling for individual gigs, etc.) is simply evil. Did you have an employer that managed placement or were you contracting directly with the schools?
- ElevenLathe 4y ago
  My employer was a third-party company, not the schools themselves, but they didn't really "manage placement" beyond providing the software platform. If I didn't log in to accept a job, I would not be working. I should add that the "system" that this replaced was much more humane: you would contact the district to be placed on their substitute list, which school secretaries would consult when they needed a sub. They would personally call you to see if you were available, rather than having to watch the site refresh. Since they only made calls during business hours, you wouldn't have to worry about it on evenings or at ungodly morning hours. You would be paid directly by the school district. Presumably the software could have worked basically the same way, but of course it didn't.
  - s1artibartfast 4y ago
    I see, that makes sense to me. Interesting problem. Seems like there are lots of better ways to handle it that could be implemented by a different middle man. For example, the middle man could have a que of subs and allocate the gigs by position in the cue. Tons of sorting algorithms available. The interesting part is that this all benefits the substitutes, not the school, so why would the school pick the more humane competitor.
    - ElevenLathe 4y ago
      I agree. Even just doing exactly what the school secretaries used to do (call out instead of requiring us to poll, and only during certain hours) would be better. But you're right that the incentives are awful. This software worked and changing it would presumably cost money (developer time, potential for introducing new revenue-impacting bugs, etc.). Also, the people making the decisions are of course not using their own money: if something is more expensive but saves some district employee 40 hours a year doing background checks, managing the sub list, etc., then they will choose to pay the service. Presumably my employer also had slick salespeople wooing these decision makers with dinners out, football tickets and the like.

s1artibartfast 4y ago

>Treating employees this way (no guaranteed hours, unpaid scrambling for individual gigs, etc.) is simply evil. Did you have an employer that managed placement or were you contracting directly with the schools?

ElevenLathe 4y ago
My employer was a third-party company, not the schools themselves, but they didn't really "manage placement" beyond providing the software platform. If I didn't log in to accept a job, I would not be working. I should add that the "system" that this replaced was much more humane: you would contact the district to be placed on their substitute list, which school secretaries would consult when they needed a sub. They would personally call you to see if you were available, rather than having to watch the site refresh. Since they only made calls during business hours, you wouldn't have to worry about it on evenings or at ungodly morning hours. You would be paid directly by the school district. Presumably the software could have worked basically the same way, but of course it didn't.
- s1artibartfast 4y ago
  I see, that makes sense to me. Interesting problem. Seems like there are lots of better ways to handle it that could be implemented by a different middle man. For example, the middle man could have a que of subs and allocate the gigs by position in the cue. Tons of sorting algorithms available. The interesting part is that this all benefits the substitutes, not the school, so why would the school pick the more humane competitor.
  - ElevenLathe 4y ago
    I agree. Even just doing exactly what the school secretaries used to do (call out instead of requiring us to poll, and only during certain hours) would be better. But you're right that the incentives are awful. This software worked and changing it would presumably cost money (developer time, potential for introducing new revenue-impacting bugs, etc.). Also, the people making the decisions are of course not using their own money: if something is more expensive but saves some district employee 40 hours a year doing background checks, managing the sub list, etc., then they will choose to pay the service. Presumably my employer also had slick salespeople wooing these decision makers with dinners out, football tickets and the like.