ON THE WAVE OF THE UBERIZATION OF WORK: THE NETWORKED PERCEPTIONS OF DELIVERY APP WORKERS
Name: ARTUR DE ANDRADE SANTOS
Publication date: 27/05/2024
Examining board:
Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| ANA PAULA FREGNANI COLOMBI | Presidente |
| DAVID SILVA FRANCO | Examinador Externo |
| RAFAEL BELLAN RODRIGUES DE SOUZA | Examinador Interno |
Summary: The aim of this research is to analyze the perceptions of iFood app delivery workers about their work, based on the content produced on their YouTube channels, in order to reflect on the working conditions, demands and management practices involved in this activity. At first, it was shown that the process of productive restructuring implies a reconfiguration of the ways in which work is organized, incorporating new technologies and regulations. Technological advances and the flexibilization of work, promoted by neoliberal policies, have enabled the emergence of the uberization of work. In this context, digital platforms
have taken on the role of work intermediaries, driving the emergence of app-based work. These platforms replace human management with algorithmic management, highlighting the increasing importance of machines in the production and control of work today. We then sought to understand this new work dynamic through the concepts of "uberization of work" and
"platformization of work". Uberization represents an advance in outsourcing and the reduction of workers to a mere workforce, available and unprotected, used according to market demands, thus consolidating the on-demand worker. Platformization, on the other hand, focuses on digital platforms, supported by complex algorithms - not always transparent and/or accessible - which turn work into a digitalized commodity. Both are interactive processes that are legitimized in neoliberal society, based on the proliferation of entrepreneurship as a practice that involves and transfers responsibility and control of their own livelihoods to app-based workers. The research revealed that delivery workers/influencers often criticize precarious working conditions, including low pay, long working hours, lack of benefits and even incidents of discrimination and violence. On the other hand, they value the flexibility of work, having the possibility to manage their own schedules and reconcile work activity with other responsibilities, as well as working without the supervision of a boss. This contradiction reflects the complexity of the reality faced by these workers and the different competing perceptions of app-based work. However, the narrative of flexible work without a boss is linked to the perspective promoted by app companies and entrepreneurship, in which delivery workers supposedly enjoy the freedom to work whenever and wherever they want. However, this reality is not realized in practice.
