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Abstract This article uses data from a natural experiment to address one of the most contentious issues in the on-demand platform economy—whether gig work is compatible with standard employment. We analyze a US-based package delivery platform that shifted a subset of its workers from independent contractors to employees, thereby creating a natural experiment that allowed us to exploit variation over time and across locations. We examine the impact of employment status on work scheduling practices, hours of work and the firm’s ability to match workers’ scheduled hours with the amount of time they were actively engaged in parcel delivery. We find that after the transition to employment, flexibility with respect to how work schedules were determined was maintained, and drivers’ total hours of work increased. We also find that the switch to employee status increased the firm’s ability to match scheduled and actual working time, indicating greater operational efficiency. We conclude, contrary to claims commonly made by platform firms, that employment status can coexist with the platform model.
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Delivering difference: ‘Unbelonging’ among US platform parcel delivery workers
Abstract This paper explores a neglected aspect of platform work: how the spatial mobility that app-based couriers must perform requires them to violate taken-for-granted assumptions that define who belongs where. By assigning tasks during atypical hours and requiring gig workers to use their personal clothing, tools and vehicles, platforms strip delivery workers of signifiers that legitimate their presence in consumers’ neighbourhoods. The result is a condition we call ‘unbelonging’ – a liminal state in which their presence is considered problematic, exposing them to threats of physical and symbolic violence. Our findings, which draw on 45 interviews with parcel delivery workers, contribute to the developing literature on urban geography and the socio-spatial impacts of the platform revolution.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2244340
- PAR ID:
- 10395055
- Publisher / Repository:
- Oxford University Press
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society
- Volume:
- 16
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 1752-1378
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: p. 303-318
- Size(s):
- p. 303-318
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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