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I spoke w/20 people around the country who *started* doing gig work in the pandemic for apps like Instacart, Shipt, Amazon Flex, Doordash that were on the hunt for 100,000s of new recruits, just as the human cost of the gig biz model was becoming clear https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/05/23/gig-work-instacart-shipt-amazon-flex-doordash/
Kelly, a house flipper in Philly, started setting an alarm at 4am because it was so hard to get Amazon Flex shifts. She had no idea workers could ask for "adjustments" i.e. overtime if dropping packages went over until she saw workers talking in a FB group https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/05/23/gig-work-instacart-shipt-amazon-flex-doordash/
@IvanSalgado88, a bartender and server at his family's Mexican restaurant in Chicago, got tip-baited, losing 53% tip, because of Instacart's policy that lets customers decrease their tip up to 3 days after the order is completed
Meredith Troy, 52, who had 3 jobs (childcare, tutoring, caregiver at assisted living), used her own credit card to pay for $229 of customer groceries when Instacart's app crashed (a pop-up told her cancelling would hurt her rating) & then didn't get fully reimbursed until I asked
Ivan got a receipt that his free PPE was shipped April 11th. May 21st Instacart told me it was in still in transit, then expedited him a new kit
Debbie Welker a hairdresser from Texas had no idea that her tip would go down if items were not available https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/05/23/gig-work-instacart-shipt-amazon-flex-doordash/
Debbie Welker a hairdresser from Texas had no idea that her tip would go down if items were not available https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/05/23/gig-work-instacart-shipt-amazon-flex-doordash/
anyways, this type of job is not inevitable. Precarity is often the result of human design & hidden company policies, not technology, although it can speed things up. There is so much unpaid labor of workers guiding each other in FB/Reddit/Discord groups https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/05/23/gig-work-instacart-shipt-amazon-flex-doordash/
check out @amir's great reporting on Instacart profits because of the pandemic in The Information https://www.theinformation.com/articles/instacart-weighs-new-financing-that-would-boost-valuation-by-at-least-50
