The question I wish the authors of this paper had asked, which seems like a key question to me is: "Why do keep working on this platform if it pays so little? Why not get another job?"
If it's because they cannot find any other employment and this is the only work they can find (sometimes the case for newcomers to the country etc.), then removing gig jobs would appear to result in them having no employment at all.
In many cases (I might even guess "most cases") people do work through these apps because they allow a level of flexibility people cannot typically get from other jobs. If you work at Nandos you can't decide to take the morning off or work a couple extra hours during some downtime, you can't stay home a few days if your child is sick or childcare falls through and pick up working again once the disruption abates or unilaterally decide to switch from morning to evening hours for a few days.
Some people just don't like dealing with coworkers and a boss. In any event, I think the "why" behind peoples' decisions to do these jobs is highly relevant, and I think that the flexibility these gigs provide should be factored in when comparing them to a job at a grocery store or something, as it seems like an apples to oranges comparison.
Its because A) its hard to find a good job in general, B) its very hard to find a good job in a hurry, C) most people don't have much savings when they lose their job, so they need to find another one quickly), D) these jobs are VASTLY easier to get quickly than most jobs, E) these jobs don't allow for much savings or breathing room, so stopping to spend a significant amount of time looking for a different job can be at risk of not being able to pay expenses.
When you are stuck in survival mode, you take what you can get. You're not picky. And they are not bad jobs in some ways.
The question I wish the authors of this paper had asked, which seems like a key question to me is: "Why do keep working on this platform if it pays so little? Why not get another job?"
If it's because they cannot find any other employment and this is the only work they can find (sometimes the case for newcomers to the country etc.), then removing gig jobs would appear to result in them having no employment at all.
In many cases (I might even guess "most cases") people do work through these apps because they allow a level of flexibility people cannot typically get from other jobs. If you work at Nandos you can't decide to take the morning off or work a couple extra hours during some downtime, you can't stay home a few days if your child is sick or childcare falls through and pick up working again once the disruption abates or unilaterally decide to switch from morning to evening hours for a few days.
Some people just don't like dealing with coworkers and a boss. In any event, I think the "why" behind peoples' decisions to do these jobs is highly relevant, and I think that the flexibility these gigs provide should be factored in when comparing them to a job at a grocery store or something, as it seems like an apples to oranges comparison.