Gig economy versus exploitation economy
Around 10 pm on a rainy Friday night toward the end of a particularly rainy May in Madrid, I left my office at IE Business School, collected my car from the garage and began my drive home from the center of the capital, passing by, as I always do, two restaurants, Goiko Grill and Tierra…
… and then, I saw them. About seven or eight Glovo, Deliveroo and Uber Eats delivery guys, huddled in the rain outside the two restaurants with their bikes and scooters, waiting for their next job. They’re not allowed in the restaurants when they come to collect deliveries because there’s no room for them. Neither of the two restaurants in question have any shelter outside, and I have to say, the sight of those people, drenched as they waited in the rain, challenged many of my perceptions about the gig economy. Whether you’re wearing rain gear or not, waiting outside a restaurant or driving a bike under such conditions is an affront to human dignity. If you have no contract, are supposedly self-employed, with no health insurance, vacation pay, regulated breaks, sick leave or other social benefits, then the term sharing economy loses its entrepreneurial and disruptive sheen and has to be seen for what it is: exploitation.
Much has been written about the harsh working conditions of the people who work for these companies, but there is no better way to understand some…
