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I spent two weeks delivering for Uber Eats and made $4.40 per hour

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383 points imartin2k | 2 comments | 13 May 17 10:08 UTC | HN request time: 0.479s | source
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FrozenVoid ◴[13 May 17 15:21 UTC] No.14331408[source]▶
"Gig/Contract economy" is the analogue of outsourcing, except for the cheap workers being drawn from local population. Its a logical consequence from corporations wanting to reduce wages and legal trickery to avoid work liabilities and benefits for the workers. Its exploitative and ruthless example of what "capitalism" becomes when law doesn't hold the punch, companies just figured out the necessary mix of legal and tech means to avoid the system being labeled as "work" and pay fair wages/expenses per worker. Expect this type of "work" to increase and subsume new sectors of economy as they figure out how to transform them into uber model.
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specialist ◴[13 May 17 18:22 UTC] No.14332244[source]▶
What's it called when the gigsters have to front their own capital to get the gigs? Pay to play?

I get why an electrician has their own tools. Why does an Uber driver need their own car?

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1. SilasX ◴[13 May 17 21:44 UTC] No.14333184[source]▶
>What's it called when the gigsters have to front their own capital to get the gigs? Pay to play?

Normal freelancing/independent contracting. And yes, there's a dispute about whether the classification is legal, my point is just that there it's not something Uber invented (edit: or any of the other on-demand startups).

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2. FrozenVoid ◴[14 May 17 06:03 UTC] No.14334469[source]▶
No. Its like being paid per each function of code developed. There is a segmentation of work into deliverable units(rides, deliveries). If programmers were replaced by gig economy, it would look like freelancers getting paid pennies for creating tiny pieces of code(with large competition between them for speed and performance): e.g. a gig where you write function X of project Y, which is then graded for performance and compliance and paid 60 cents, with a twist:you are only paid if your function is the best one among all submitted. With gamification and ratings, the competition become very fierce and people get near zero income, making the job unsustainable except for those living in third-world countries.