The Gig Economy: WTF? Precarity and Work under Neoliberalism | Tom Nicholas

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Thanks for watching all! If you enjoy the stuff I make and would like to help me to create more videos like this then I'd be super grateful if you'd consider supporting me on Patreon at patreon.com/tomnicholas

[@Edmonddantes123]

Thank you very much for this great and insightful video. I agree with much of the argument presented here. I would, however, object the wholesale criticism of “mainstream economics” as something of corporate lackeys or neoliberal shills. I do encounter this thinking a lot and am, frankly a bit puzzled by it. “Mainstream” economics is well aware of the limits of the market and has a huge theoretical apparatus as to where and how to regulate markets to protect society against market failures and inequalities. These concepts are typically taught in the very first economics class that university students attend, and I myself teach such classes. I would highlight that Hayek and Friedman are fringe figures in economics, it would be quite an overgeneralisation to identify their views as mainstream, similar to calling all “mainstream philosophers” followers of Ayn Rand. As to the precarious situation of low-wage and gig workers, “mainstream” economics has a couple of theories as to why this arises. The two most prominent theories would be market power, or monopsony, of hiring firms; and the Shapiro-Stiglitz or Akerlof theories of efficiency wages. If you are interested in more references that go into more depth of the “mainstream” views of the market in economics, do let me know, I am more than willing to help out.

[@malcolmlewis5860]

@Someone Andnoone you just made a sad and pathetic comment. His hair is none of your concern and your opinion on his hormones is irrelevant. Address his ideas, not his haircut.

[@unclestarwarssatchmo9848]

I pour myself a drink do get a buzz everytime you release a new video

[@wellskian5387]

Instablaster.

[@victoriaselwyn8781]

Done!

[@suadela87]

When recruiters or job ads say “flexible working hours” all I hear is “you must be flexible to work whatever hours we give you”

[@severalwolves]

Hahah so true. We should def, like, rise up and slaughter all the bosses lol

[@torbjornlekberg7756]

Precisely. What I hear is that you need to live on call.

[@TheXXLGamer]

Honestly, flexible working hours are great when you dont depend on the work and can pick and choose which shifts to take. I work flexible hours as a side job for some extra cash to put into the things I love, and it's pretty great. Doing that as a main job though? Nah, fuck that shit.

[@27greenmen67]

@@severalwolves haha jk unless... 👀😖

[@thecatwithatophat4069]

As someone who works for one of these companies, I think the system is good but if you scratch the surface you'll find the faults. In a way, it is “you must be flexible to work whatever hours we give you,” but that message isn't coming from your manager, its coming from your "coworkers." I work for GrubHub, an American gig delivery company and let me tell you, when I was a new driver I had trouble scheduling hours because the best drivers get first choice of the good blocks. I should explain that too, basically, I can clock on and clock off at any time but there is no guarantee that I'll receive a steady number of deliveries. If I schedule a set block, say 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM, then I will be one of the first to get new orders and we get a guaranteed minimum pay (this is not a thing for other gig services). As a new driver I was on the bottom of the pile for my area, taking dead shifts just before or just after common meal times and only making 2-3 deliveries over a two hour period. I went into the job thinking that I would be given a specific time period to work, the same as if I worked for Papa John's or Dominos Pizza. After about 6-months with the company I found the best times and cleared my schedule to match, so I could hit the big ticket hours in the middle of the week and dinner time on the weekend. Its not a fun source of work, its a drag when someone complains, especially when you're in the middle of a pandemic.

[@rosscunliffe925]

As a prospective PhD student engaged in the field of the humanities, can i just thank you for providing such amazing and accessible free content. Videos like this are a godsend in this current poisonous dynamic that is prevalent in the information/digital age (fake news, anti-intellectualism, death of nuance, etc.) I have emailed your channel to my MA tutor who has since added your channel to the reading list for students enrolling next year.

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Thanks Ross, I'm really glad you've got something out of my videos. And thanks for recommending them too!

[@rosscunliffe925]

@flippy66 Not as a citable source, but as something to help students grasp the content before delving into academic papers and books. This channel has a lot of value in that regard. It is the premise of the channel after all, and Tom does a remarkable job.

[@reveranttangent1771]

I hate the existence of corporations. A basic feature of the current business model is that all employees and customers must be replaceable for the corporation, but the corporation must be irreplaceable for the employee and the customer.

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Indeed. I did want to include a bit about financialisation (which Grace Blakely has recently written a book on that I've got in my "to read" pile at the moment) and how not having ongoing commitments in terms of pay also helps companies' stock prices (which are now pretty much their sole reason for existence far above and beyond profit on a per product/sale/service basis). Alas it didn't quite fit...

[@reveranttangent1771]

@@Tom_Nicholas please define financialization.

[@BigHenFor]

@@reveranttangent1771 Type it into KZbin and you'll find a talk by Grace Blakely on Novara Media's KZbin Channel. She talks about her book and defines Financialisation.

[@Tom_Nicholas]

As BigHenFor suggested below, probably a bit beyond a single comment to be able to define so perhaps worth looking for that Blakely’s interview. Essentially, however, a shift towards everything in a nation’s (or the global) economy being focussed on the financial sector rather than actually making/selling/doing stuff.

[@reveranttangent1771]

@@Tom_Nicholas sounds horrible

[@bobersonRC]

The gig economy is just a way for corporations to cut the cost of employees, by turning them into subcontractors. They blur the line between employee and subcontractors by having tight rules like an employer, and since most people have a employee mentality, the company nurtures the idea that they somehow are more like employees, then they get mostly good workers, working hard for very little compensation. The Gig economy is just another sign of our failing way of life.

[@jtl9283]

Yep and they all lure you in by making you "your own boss" and making your own hours and getting able to cash out instantly. I used to drive for Lyft and at first it seemed great because I could start and end whenever I wanted to. Plus they had some really good bonuses and incentives when I first started like the first week I drove, I made $250 after giving 10 rides. Those amounts would decrease, the more I drove and not be worth it. There was a point where I had to give 15 rides for a guaranteed $150. I did it, but that was all at the expense of my gas, filing 1099 taxes later, and wear and tear. With rideshare companies, you are risking so much for so little. And if you get into an accident, as a driver, you are fucked whether it's with your insurance or Lyft. They have you be a subcontractor so you assume the liabilities and risks, not them. You are basically driving to make the CEOs and investors rich.

[@strayedarticle2838]

@Nicolas Girard Thats an old strategy of capitalism. Amazon does it, and so does walmart, and all those robber barons in the past. Basically they operate at a loss, to starve out the competition. When they have no competitors, they raise their prices.

[@confaffalator]

The "subcontractor" can also dodge taxes this way. That's their benefit.

[@Loanshark753]

I find it weird when the gig economy is labeled as an innovation. It seems like it is the opposite an uninvention.

[@WastingtimeInc]

As a gig worker myself, I found your video very nice in the way that I feel heard. I have been considering making a local union of gig workers where I live.

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Thank you, I really appreciate you saying that. And I'm glad it came across that way. Although I do a fair bit of casualised work which should definitely not be casualised I haven't worked for any services which we'd generally describe as being in the gig economy proper so it's good to know that it does reflect the lived experience in some way (well, obviously I would prefer it didn't reflect the real experience but...).

[@Viperzka]

The other big advantage to the company in the gig economy is that they can outsource performance risk. So when an uber driver is bad (or rapes you) the company says that it isn't their fault because they never trained or vetted him. They can blacklist these bad employees from their program, but they don't take responsibility instead pretending that it is just two random people interacting with each other rather than a person buying a service from a company.

[@alethearia]

I mean... that's kinda what KZbin and other platforms do too. Not to the same extreme, but we hear all the time of KZbin essentially saying "it's not our fault. it's just a platform. Punish the users"

[@Viperzka]

@@alethearia I absolutely agree.

[@EricNielsen85]

Áa

[@WackadoodleMalarkey]

Law 26 of the 48 Laws of Power; a monkey grabs a cat and uses it's paw to retrieve a nut from a fire without burning himself. A hominid psychopathic narcissist upgrades that to using multiple flying monkeys who in turn use flying monkey cats paws.

[@spiritualeco-syndicalisthe207]

I just love how Neoliberals don't realize that Britain already had unregulated Capitalism. And the people loved it! Don't you want your child to work in factories and coal mines instead of going to school because you're family wouldn't have enough food otherwise? Don't complain about it, you just have to work even harder and believe in yourself. Anybody can get rich, but not everybody. That's the difference. You'll always need multiple dish washers for one hotel and you'll always need to own multiple hotels to be a multi-millionaire. That's the whole trick. They always argue on a single individual, because they know that in order to be a successful businessman, you need to exploit your workers if you want your welath to exceed a certain level.

[@Tom_Nicholas]

I think its helped by the vague notion that "progress" has happened and therefore we wouldn't go back to the worst excesses of the early industrial period. While I can't imagine we'll see child labour making a comeback anytime soon, however, a great deal of the inequities of that period are reemerging. We just have phones now so it's, erm, different.

[@spiritualeco-syndicalisthe207]

@@Tom_Nicholas Oh yes, I agree. We won't see children in coal mines, but what we already have is that teenagers "need to learn to get a job", even if it's unnecessary and really low-paid. But all we have to do is remind them that there's an alternative, and as the system will become harsher towards more and more people.they'll tend to prefer the alternative.

[@DebatingWombat]

@@spiritualeco-syndicalisthe207 While we “won’t see children in coal mines”, child labour is arguably on the rise in the West with the increasing use of child influencers, KZbinrs etc. who work for and are paid by various “sponsors”. The extent of their workload may be substantial indeed for these children. In the scholarship on the “gig economy”, the realisation that their “innovation” has more to do with circumventing labour laws and other legal regulations than their nifty apps is already present. Basically, “gig economy” companies are “innovative” in the same way as tax dodgers who manages to siphon profits into tax havens and exploiting various loopholes. Rather than lauding those founding or running “gig economy” companies as “entrepreneurs”, a more fitting description would be pirates, leeches and loafers, who want to do business without following laws and regulations or otherwise contribute to the societies that sustain their business. And yes, day labourers and piece rates are not some spiffy new “innovation”, but more like a retrograde into a Dickensian vision of the economy and society. Rebranding these practices into a legal fiction of “self employment” just to weasel out of treating your employees with the legal minimum of decency simply makes this all the more distasteful.

[@aturtlethatisred]

Tom Nicholas we aren’t seeing child labor at home but we do own products made by child labor. And, at least in the US we also use prison labor and immigrants to pick our fields and sew our uniforms. We have just removed ourselves enough, like the gig owners themselves that we don’t see the harm.

[@SharienGaming]

oh the neoliberals absolutely know that... they in fact want to go back to those times... they just dont want the rest of the population to think thats what they want

[@danielrocha9614]

What makes me even more apprehensive about the gig economy is that it is even more aggressive how it performs here at the 3rd world. Just as an example, what is happening here is reckless and brutal process of impoverishment, the last three years we already have our income diminished more than a half. Thanks for everything, you give a very deep and complex content in very accessible overviews!

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Sorry for only being able to give a American/Eurocentric account here, it’s be a bit beyond my knowledge of the world to give a slightly more global take on matters! Sounds devastating the manner in which it works elsewhere in the world where, in some cases, I imagine the legal frameworks are even less well-prepared than here for dealing with such matters. Thanks for sharing, it really helps to flesh this stuff out when people chip in with their own experiences.

[@danielrocha9614]

@@Tom_Nicholas don't be sorry, you already put a lot, and somehow already crossed some imposed boundaries. Somehow it's pretty much our duty here in the 3rd world to translate the content both to our language and to our reality. Whenever we talk about neoliberalism and it's consequences, we must at first recognize that are innumerable variables and different effects on each place of the world. Thank you again, you are awesome!

[@enzomarcucci5702]

@@pygmalion8952 imagining he´s from brazil like me (judging by his name and the unbieliavable rise in the gig economy, inequality and destruction of workers rights and social security in here)

[@cuzsleepisthecousinofdeath]

How easy it is to start a business in 3rd world?

[@LautaroArgentino]

@@enzomarcucci5702 I'm from Argentina and it's been pretty much the same thing here.

[@diegowushu]

What's pretty sad is that at the same time these zero-hour contracts and gig economy jobs are increasing, subscription services are also on the rise. So pay the company a stable monthly income, so they can plan ahead and maintain their service, but yourself get paid per "gig", no matter if you were available for 8 hours waiting for some work.

[@endanarchy]

That moment when Tom makes you realise KZbinrs are just KZbin Employees with Google taking us a step forward into the past. The 21st century is a crazy time.

[@appa609]

Except they're not? KZbinrs decide whether or not to work at any given time. They choose what they make. They can partner freely with external sponsors or platforms and many are primarily paid by not-youtube. Imagine a regular job where you work exactly as often as you choose, doing what you choose, and being paid only on the basis of how popular your product is. Doesn't exist.

[@certs743]

The idea that anyone working for Deliveroo or Uber are "self employed" is as much a lie in practice as claiming someone working for an MLM is "their own boss". It is a cruel joke. The gig economy is turning the entire workforce into MLM hunbots.

[@notsure186]

I used to work as self employed in the UK. As I am Bulgarian (I am aware of exactly how evil I am) there were heavy restrictions for me under the conservative government back then. The company (which is public) really wanted to hire me so they made me self employed. The only thing that saved my ass was that I was proficient in linux administration, computer security, software development and databases. Basically they needed me more than I needed them. But I can imagine how horrible it would have been to work for deliveroo or some of the other similar nightmares. Whenever I listen to explanations of working condition like zero hour contracts and "innovations" like Uber I have ptsd flashbacks of living in a garage in the UK and the "hunger". The foods I have survived on were appalling. The Tesco pizza for 2.30 that gives you diarrhea within 30 min of eating was just little bit better than starving. :/ Now I have enough money, however I always have a lot of empathy for poor people because I have seen the thick side of it. Right wing politicans and supporters view poverty as individual failure. They say these people are lazy. They just PREFER to eat from the trash and be homeless. But there is nothing lazy about poverty. Some of the people well into their 30s living in a shared house or apartment were working 14h a day. Not to talk about the homeless. This is very long topic :( Just one thing. When I lived in Abingdon (close to Oxford) uk, I saw large tent camp of homeless people in the forrest next to the Thames between Abingdon and oxford. On the other side of the river there was a mansion, 200 rooms, private road, private lake, private forrest, massive private meadow. You walk 20 min just to go past it. That just couldn't be right.

[@danmorgan3685]

Precedence for the Gig Economy: Slavery, serfdom, piece work, day labor, wage slavery. A twenty minute montage of Dickensian poverty.

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Slavery's probably going a bit far but there's a great deal of scholarship which draws parallels between gig economy practices and feudalism.

[@dalton-at-work]

in short it's a loophole to avoid paying your employees all their due benefits, by calling them "contractors" in short, it's bullshit and should be treated, legally, as fraud.

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Well, yes. In fact, many of the court cases that have happened so far have attempted to make this argument. In the UK, at least, there are legal precedents which preclude companies from using freelance models where workers are, in all but name, employees. However, I think so far these have largely been unsuccessful.

[@dalton-at-work]

@@Tom_Nicholas good to hear there is some support in the UK as well for workers on this issue! hopefully videos like yours and others will help educate people and empower them

[@appa609]

But you agreed to it! If you want a regular job just go get one! There's plenty around! If you start introducing hourly pay and benefits and hour minimums to acvomodate 9-5 food delivery boys then it'll no longer be accessible as a side hustle for students doing it between classes, which is the real target demographic.

[@benjaminmeusburger4254]

Well, we have laws against that ... so yes. It is illegal to claim that your are a freelancer as soon as 5/6th of your revenue comes from a single source ;-)

[@NyandogsChannel]

I was working in such a food delivery service before Covid at the time when the workers, covering the main two companies (Yandex & Delivery Club), were trying to organize an union because of a number of reasons: Workers were forced to buy busy shifts (yes, you have to pay for a chance to get money), wage delays of up to three months because of the tyranny of companies - gaskets (some people lost homes and slept on benches in parks), constant wage cuts and other bad things, for example, forcing the transition to "self-employment" so that the worker did not have even those meager rights that come while working as a contract worker. Starting a union is very difficult, for the reasons described in the video, because of constant renewal of the workforce, the company can additionally delay wages (more than they usually do), put pressure on activists and deprive them of shifts (or not credit the salary for shifts worked), also some of activists were fired without stated reason. They bought some bloggers, so they say that "If the system of penalties is canceled, we will stop working normally" (In Labor Code penalties are prohibited, but nobody cares about contracters). And "if we pay more than (almost nothing) for delivery, food delivery will become so expensive that the company will go bankrupt" despite the fact that the owners of these companies are sitting on such heaps of gold that they are constantly in Forbes and the fact that a year ago payment for hour was almost twice more. And other things like that. That was a kind of dystopian nightmare, but after the rally and partial strike, some of the requirements were met. In Moscow that is, in other cities its still total bollocs.

[@jones1351]

Great essay. Before I retired, proper, I worked part time at a ‘regular’ job, concurrently collecting my military pension (20yrs service). During the 10 yrs at this job, I noticed my hours declining while my ‘tasks’ were increasing. If the work required more hours than that for which I was paid, well… ‘You’re not working smart/fast/hard enough, etc.’ was managements reply. Which they kept at the ready, instead of paying me. I eventually told them where they could stick their, ‘harder/faster/smarter’. But I was lucky enough to have my pension to fall back on. I say all this to suggest that a UBI - which supplements, rather than replaces the social safety net (which itself should steadily improve) - is the only way a ‘gig’ economy can work. Otherwise it’s just (as you point out) a return to the early exploitation of workers characterized by Capitalism of the 17th - early 20th centuries. Which included the ultimate in exploitation, slavery.

[@natesmodelsdoodles5403]

TBH a UBI is the best way to protect workers. If there's any issues in the workplace, a UBI makes it easy to get them solved. Bad working conditions? Walk off the shift, you've still got income. Unreasonable hours/demands? just don't work 'em, the government will pay you. Sexual harrassment/assault in the workplace? Call the cops, the fucker responsible can't cut your UBI.

[@onalos1271]

I love your channel. This is what KZbin *should* be, imo, instead of the 90% that is essentially garbage.

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Thank you! I mean, to be fair, I watch a large amount of garbage on here when I want to chill so...

[@InternetMameluq]

90% of everything will always be garbage.

[@jtl9283]

A big reason the gig economy and "hustle culture" exists that wages are so low, even for those with college degrees, that a side gig is mandatory to make ends meet.

[@OnTheRocks08]

Was pretty surprised to hear Kant worked for Deliveroo!

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Unfortunately he was paid only £2 per dialectic.

[@Leibniz_28]

Minute and seconds, please

[@OnTheRocks08]

@@Leibniz_28 11:08

[@Bigglesworthicus]

1968: can we have free flows of desire? Capital: NEOLIBERALISM TIME

[@ljs8824]

Rest in power my coworker who died working for Caviar in heavy downpour. His last act was to bring a rain jacket to our other co worker. We all worked in that blinding rain and one of us didn't make it. I always make sure to turn my phone off when I'm at home and the weather is bad, because I know my job will ask me to work. Thank you for this video. I hope people consider this when ordering delivery, and I hope that others working gig economy jobs can learn to support their coworkers even though these companies seek to separate us.

[@aronenark8184]

Having worked in the gig economy for some time, everything said here rings true. However, I would also point out another negative tactic gig-based companies employ to exploit their workers: the gamification of work. Over the course of my years with food delivery services specifically, I saw the introduction of numerous “features” in the apps which sought to portray the worker’s metrics as a kind of “achievement” system. First was the introduction of the “acceptance rate” bar, which tracked the % of recent orders you had accepted. It would turn red if you fell below 80%. It would give you prompts like “so close to 100” in attempts to convince you to accept undesirable orders. Though there is no absolute proof of this without a back door into the algorithm, to most of us workers, it seemed as though the app offered us low-tip and no-tip orders more often above 90% acceptance rate. Below 80%, the number of orders you received seemed to drop significantly as well. We called this “throttling.” This feature (just one of many) encouraged drivers to strive to keep their particular metric at a certain level by accepting or declining orders even if it went against their own self-interest. Another “feature” that came later was weekly milestones. The company would offer a “bonus” if you completed 100 deliveries within a week. This encouraged workers to accept more orders to get closer to 100, to avoid missing out on the bonus. The bonus was usually only $50 or less, so when you add it up, you get an extra $0.50 per order, which sounds nice but really isnt a lot. But you only got it if you reached that 100 order requirement. If you worked hard all week accepting garbage orders, only to reach 95 on the weekend because orders were slow that day, tough luck; no bonus for you. Now all that extra work you otherwise might not have done without the incentive of the bonus has gone to waste, and you just provided more labour to your company for free.

[@whoosdaart4423]

This style of "employment" is getting more and more common, along with agencies all worker's rights are being eroded and workers are disposable to big corporations. Working in a warehouse at the moment where we can turn up to work and get sent home, numerous H&S violations, and if you make a fuss, you are not sacked - there's simply no hours available for you. This is for a global mail/logistics brand

[@MrHaze56]

Ups?

[@whoosdaart4423]

@@MrHaze56 nah was hermes left there shortly after that comment! In a better workplace now x

[@Snacman8]

I wonder if we'll start seeing the different gig economies hiring "mercenaries" to disrupt the reputations of their competitors. Like Doordash hiring people to get gigs with Deliveroo and violently agitating the contents of their insulated bag to ensure that the customer will demand a refund/give 1 star ratings.

[@boygenius538_8]

Sounds super illegal

[@CocolinoFan]

After 5 videos over two weeks you have earned my subscription

[@notsogoodbassplayer]

I worked for a gig based moving company and suffered a crush injury from a 100lb headboard falling on my leg. It didn't break but I had severe bruising and multiple hospital visits. My leg is permanently disfigured from this accident and all I got from the company was a fraction of what I would make in the 2 weeks that I needed off. I was fortunate that they had bought employee insurance so I wasn't obligated to pay for the bills, though it took a lot of calling and constant reminders to take care of that. After I healed up and was ready to go back to work, they decided to stop sending jobs my way and basically forced me to quit and find a new job. I decided to never do gigs like that again. Great video.

[@philippedelteil2489]

Something you didn't mention about the gig economy is that in many services the worker/rider is assuming all the future costs of maintenance of their equipment (bike, motorcycle, car, etc). This implies that the monetary value obtained by workers is less what they actually receive taking into account all these future expenses.

[@aniksamiurrahman6365]

As a part-time gig worker myself, I've faced far more sleepless nights and way tighter dead-lines with my gig works than my regular job.

[@mr.b89]

While taking an economics class in high school I always found it strange that it was seen as normal to have a "natural rate of unemployment." When I would ask why there was a need for that I was never met with a satisfying answer, just a "Because there needs to be one"

[@mapadillorex]

I drive for Postmates occasionally and it’s ridiculous how unpredictable my income can be on a given day. Sometimes, even if I’m driving at peak hours in a hotspot area, the app will send me to a restaurant/store 30 minutes away and then send me another 30 minutes to find the customer who won’t always tip. One time I had to wait in line outside an Apple store for an hour to pick up somebody’s new iPhone (during the pandemic), only to drive another 30 minutes away from where I live and receive ~$7.00 for my work. The app then took me back to that same Apple store, only for me to find that it was closed, and I received a warning on the app for cancelling the order, even after I contacted support.

[@mapadillorex]

Also, got two doordash ads while watching this video.

[@Capitanvolume]

It's true that the more free the market, the more efficient the service. However, as Adam Smith wrote, it is the responsibility of the government to ensure a market free of regulation or unfair competition. Its the last part that gets forgotten. Many companies are stifling competition and ensuring a monopoly.

[@TheMajorpickle01]

Not in every respect. Sure, if you have 10 competing burger chains with equal access and costs, the company that makes the best burgers most efficiently wil win, but in reality mcdonalds in prime location in a city centre will have more luck than a local burger joint even if it is superior. For a better example, neoliberal nationalization of the british rail service. There is no way to have a competitive market in all scenarios.

[@boygenius538_8]

@@TheMajorpickle01 the McDonald’s is still arguably providing a better product, a burger in a desirable location.

[@deekswap695]

Now I've come to realize that the gig economy is the "consolidation" from the videogame Deus Ex.

[@Tom_Nicholas]

I’ve never played it I’m afraid...

[@HxH2011DRA]

Pffffffft XD

[@vidividivicious]

@@Tom_Nicholas oh, you're missing out on a cult classic

[@vee1267]

Well, I guess I know what game I’ll be playing next...

[@pedrodourado2152]

Hey man, I'm a psychology student in Brazil, trying to focus on work psychology, your videos provide a very good look at concepts that I work with everyday in my internships, it's amazing! Thanks for that. Also, the gig economy seems to be extremely present here in Brazil, with over 15% of the population under unemployment. We have also seen the first strike of app workers in July of 2020.

[@ConanDuke]

This is quickly becoming my favorite KZbin channel. Keep talking about these important issues.

[@Sunny-zx4ej]

I work as a substitute teacher with three outsource companies and it is also considered as gig job/ or private contractor, you are placed based on picking up assignments each day, just like uber or lift. That is education! you would think school districts would employ permanent teachers! some even started exploiting this and hiring these teachers long term but not paying the same pay as they would a regular teacher or giving them health benefits. Something has to change in America!

[@stevenbosch429]

For a little over a year I drove a taxi cab in Nassau County, New York. I had to have a commercial driver endorsement on my driver’s license, a finger print check through the local police, at the end of a 12-hour shift I split my remaining fare money with the company. Drivers were responsible for gassing their cars at the end of their shift. The rivalry between Uber and taxi companies was very strong. There was and for all I know a question remaining about whether we were employees or independent contractors. All the drivers were in rotation regarding assignments. Weekdays were busy as we were shuttling patients to and from doctor appointments. Fares were determined by zone rather than distance travelled.

[@Tom_Nicholas]

I think the distinction between taxi drivers and Uber drivers is slightly different to some other sectors as, like you mention, the vast majority of taxi drivers (at least in the UK where I live) are self-employed and work through their firms rather than "for" them. However, many cities/countries have a great deal of legislation around taxis which seem (and I may be wrong in this) to protect drivers to some extent through mandating what fares should be etc. The manner in which Uber, Lyft etc have managed to get round those rules (I think through technically being "private hire" companies rather than taxi services) has been devastating to watch. It also has some dangers in terms of passengers where ride sharing drivers don't necessarily have to have the same background checks as taxi drivers. Uber very nearly had its licence revoked in London due to some of this (I'm not sure where that dispute is at in the courts the moment). Thanks for sharing your experience!

[@liquidpebbles7475]

what the hell? I have your channel's notifications enabled and didn't got nothing 🤔well whatever, thank God I check my phone every 2 minutes. Thx for the vid, as someone from a third world country... oh wait, that's not the word anymore, as someone from a "developing" "country" the gig economy is a big problem, it adds to the informal economy, that's already half of our economy, and the precarious conditions are concerning to say the least,pretty sure your vid will throw some light on the topic tho, thx as always and happy new year :)

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Don’t worry, I literally just released this one a matter of moments ago so you’ve not missed out! It’s definitely concerning how unprepared legal systems have been throughout the world for this kind of working. It’s made it a real grey area in terms of what’s within the law and what isn’t and most countries are now struggling to catch up. Thanks for your kind words about my videos. Let me know what you think of this one!

[@linceed]

Your channel deserves more attention.

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Thank you, I appreciate you saying so! (Also, I loved Fez!)

[@jamesstephenson3305]

ALWAYS tip a deliveroo riders - even just an extra 50p per delivery is a huge bonus. Enough to cover food whilst working.

[@alfsmith4936]

No.. Tell them to get a real job and laugh at the dumb fucks for being willing to work for such low wages.

[@jamesstephenson3305]

@@alfsmith4936 I would love to watch someone try that.

[@alethearia]

So, I work in QA and computer learning. My whole team, and in fact most of the workers in the US are contract/freelance workers. Mind you, it's a very nice contract, but should the company decide that the project isn't working out or our client decides that we're no longer cost-effective... our entire department is out of a job. They can't or won't move us to other projects, we aren't automatically trained in new positions, and we have significantly less benefits from the rest of our global coworkers. When we ask about it we're told that we should try to move up the corporate ladder (which is nearly impossible without some serious education and training), and that our group is already operating at a loss so we should be grateful for what we have. They tell us that we cannot seek higher pay over time because that's not how contracts work and that clients actually expect discounts the longer the contract goes on. Fortune 200 companies take huge advantage of the gig economy and it's making it hard to pay bills.

[@alfsmith4936]

I don't understand why anybody puts up with the treatment these companies offer. I'd be pouring drinks into my computer daily and if everyone else played ' expensive non compliance' they would have to change their ways.

[@danyramos8139]

You know how I would connect people in gig economy? A meme account of that specific job. The meme culture is powerful in creating community

[@1337hotshot]

An aspect of the gig economy that I don't think gets enough attention is truck drivers and loads. I work in dispatching and transportation, and truck drivers run into the same problems that gig economy workers do. If you're a private carrier, you're paid by the load, and are at the mercy of the rates of the freight brokers. The relationship between freight brokers and truck drivers is very similar to the relationship between gig economy workers and the companies. Fortunately there are trucking companies that hire drivers hourly, but if you're not a part of that, you're in the same boat as Uber drivers and the like.

[@lucia_kidtech]

I remember seeing a person talking about how annoying it was working in the gig economy because sometimes the pay for doing something like driving for uber wasn't enough to pay the petrol costs. If they can't make enough to earn any money working for you then that is a good sign you should raise your wage.

[@jacobyoung6876]

This video hits the nail on the head 10 times over. I think its incredibly important to emphasize how economic theory and employment is bent to the will of the corporations. Reverting back to the capitalism of centuries past is just awful. Great job on addressing this topic!

[@TheVFXbyArt]

Excellent work and ty for listing authors in the notes. One small request: to discourage purchasing through amazon, could you list the publisher’s link? You understand the irony to have a topic critiquing an a destructive aspect of capitalism and supporting amazon, one of the prime suspects in the topic you covered. You should also end you affiliate program with them if you have one.

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Yeah, this is something I've wrestled with a bunch and is something I'm continuing to consider. I'm not a fan of Amazon in the slightest and avoid using it myself where I can. It's one of the conflicts that goes with running a channel like this; trying to balance the practicalities of needing it to bring in some money with wanting to champion ethical practices where possible. Obviously that comes into play with being on KZbin too and Google not exactly being the most ethical business out there (my advertising cheques come from Ireland so that they can pay a lower rate of tax). I will have a look into some more ethical alternatives at some point I promise.

[@commierants]

I love your videos, your voice is very pleasant, your videos are well edited, & researched. :)

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Thanks so much Alexander, that means a lot! I guess the voice thing is just a matter of luck but I certainly put the time and effort in to ensure they’re as well-researched as possible!

[@Crawver]

I used to work for uber eats, and it was great for me. But exclusively because I was wanting to do cycling to excersize, and I got paid drinking money to do it. As an actual reliable income stream, it truely would have been awful.

[@alfsmith4936]

I know someone from school who is constantly homeless and begs on the streets. (Speed and Booze..) I always stop and say hello and one time he told me he got a bike and was going to work for deliveroo.. He was back begging in less than a month because he could earn more lol.

[@atrium.]

I just discovered your channel, and the way you break these topics down, give immense insight, the way you articulate things. WOW Tom! You're phenomenal! I could listen to you all day, you have such a soothing voice and a brilliant mind!

[@josephyoung6749]

The gig economy and the sight of so many of the workers being tortured for pennies right before our very eyes has been one of the most painful things to experience in my life in the US. I never use these services myself for this reason, even if there's no other option available. I hope these people can unionize because this mass-immiseration can only be harmful for all of us.

[@LogicGated]

One of the better vids on the gig economy I've seen

[@WayneKitching]

In my native South Africa, delivery riders and drivers cut corners w.r.t. safety also that they can squeeze in as many deliveries as possible. There are many accidents because they take chances on traffic.

[@nathanngumi8467]

Word. The gig economy is a step back into the gilded age of robber barons, only now disguised by fancy tech and innovative contractual agreements.

[@ksb1886]

Great content. I have learnt a lot from your channel already.

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Thank you Kamaljit, really glad you’ve got something out of my videos!

[@zhifengwu2384]

hey Tom I wonder if you publish transcripts of these video essays at all? I am super bad at taking notes so having a script to review will be super useful. LOVE YOUR CONTENT!

[@ofacid3439]

The Precariat by Guy Standing is an outstanding work (no pun intended) on the topic

[@Sam-os7fk]

This was such a good video! One of your best

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Thank you Sam, I appreciate you saying so!

[@PRSRod]

Awesome content, I've recommended your channel to my friends!

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Thank you both for your kind words about my videos and for recommending it! Always lovely to know people are spreading the word!

[@Andreas_42]

It does not need to be that way. For example, in Switzerland the Uber drivers are considered employees. Uber has to offer them all the benefits required by law, like paid leave, and needs to pay social security contributions. The result? There are less cities where Uber offers its services, but the drivers get a far better deal. But it took a legal battle up to the highest court (Bundesgericht) before workers rights were respected by Uber.

[@yex4620]

Been working as a delivery driver for more than a year and they never educated me about taxes and when asked basically the answer was "We can't disclose that information" and basically go figure it out yourself... so I did and I did it wrong, now I'm 1k+ in debt (As a 19 year old I didn't know better and forgot that accountants exist). Also it's harder to motivate yourself to work and when you don't work you keep stressing out about how much you have to make till the end of the month and sometimes the days can be good and sometimes awful. Gas prices are going up and the pay stays the same + car repairs add up. I'd say it can be good as a side gig but when working full time it can be challenging unless you've planed everything and can keep yourself motivated to get out of the bed in the morning.

[@mrunseen3797]

Commenting to support.

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Thank you, I appreciate your efforts!

[@mitakiharashi4367]

Holy hell, the reserve army of labour has been totally integrated. Every business operating under the gig economy model has not only their own pool of self-employed labourers, but the further pool of the unemployed, and if at any moment there is individual or collective resistance from the labourers, they can simply stop offering contracts (zero hour) or completely terminate the labourer(s) and "hire" new ones. There needs to be collective resistance, across the whole gig economy, from both the employed and unemployed, aimed at the state -- otherwise we remain at the mercy of an individualistic competitiveness that destroys our ability to see beyond immediate need, and imagine a world where need is met as a baseline to existence, rather than as a perpetual struggle.

[@dominictemple]

“Higher earning potential” reminds me of job notices which have “up to x” in all their advertising.

[@ciaranbarrett5254]

absolutely phenomenal! Best KZbinr in my books

[@andrewkhan4561]

This in an incredible video even for you. Please keep these kind of critiques coming they provide a real service!

[@pygmalion8952]

I want a debate which each speakers are capable of carry a dialogue with high intellectuality. And you, man, you have a good account for that with these flowless videos. I would like to see you in a debate with an libertarin who knows what he/she talking about.

[@samuelzamozny763]

I work as a taxi driver and I find very annoying that these companies dont make any profit for years, maybe a decade and still subsidise rides and get more money from wallstreet. Then customers complain that nonsubsidises small bussines is expensive and sometimes called thieves. Goverment dont do anything cause cheap service is popular among voters and independent bussines is screwed. In long term the platform workers realise they are just slaves, independent workers lost 50% of work and quality of service go down (check reviews of uber, bolt etc. at appstore). Everyone loses cause someone wanted to save pennies at the beginning.

[@LiquidDemocracyNH]

I looooove all the book sources. It's just so good to see multiple books worth of credibility

[@Tom_Nicholas]

I do always like to make sure there's a good range of sources in my videos both to substantiate my points but also to give people an idea of where they can go to read a little more.

[@necro1314]

Overall I think this is a great video! I cannot agree more about the dangers and downsides of the gig economy. One small note however: during the video you mentioned the natural rate of unemployment and seemed to imply the ideal scenario for workers would be 100% employment. However it is worth noting that by most definitions that I’m aware of the natural rate of employment is a result of structural market forces, whether that be due to the advance of technology making some workers skills outdated or the unemployment due to people quitting their jobs to change careers, go back to school, or simply find a new job. As such it is both inevitable and preferable to have less than 100% employment, as there will always be a cohort of people retraining, looking for better jobs, or seeking different employment. The ideal situation (from a workers perspective) is technically the natural rate of unemployment, as that’s the rate of unemployment that excludes all cyclical or temporary factors like depressions, recessions, or shocks. Of course this is an economics term, so there’s room for debate (or correction if I messed something up) concerning this topic.

[@jonnygstar]

Thank you Tom.. so helpful for my university study ..

[@sanflux]

I was wondering if you’d be interested in doing a video on Colombia! My home country is such a beautiful place with an incredible history!

[@jimaginarydialectic4682]

Neoliberalism really got us in a deeply dystopian situation 😐

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Some might say a boring dystopia...

[@hasnanhussain6512]

I admire what you do on this channel. Keep it going!

[@douglasphillips5870]

I see a potential here to push for co-op business instead of just unionisation. The deliverers control the labor and the hardware. The only part of the means of production the employer controls is the app. If the deliverers can get their own app, they can seize the means of production

[@firamiragromova4582]

But it doesnt' happen

[@michellesu1742]

just wanted to comment that your hard work is appreciated :)

[@vidividivicious]

Great work as always Tom. Seeing a new video of yours in my subscriptions tap is kinda thrilling, cause I know I'll have good quality content for my free time on YT

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Thank you, that's very kind of you to say. I'm really glad you enjoy my videos!

[@ashtonoakstand21]

I signed up for 2 gigs recently. I’m not excited about it because I know that it’s just more exploitative than my previous traditional jobs. However I’m in a really transient stage of my life right now, and working a traditional job isn’t viable. If the US had a UBI I wouldn’t have to worry about any of this. It’s really disheartening honestly. I’m an artist, and any time spent earning money just to exist safely takes away from actual meaningful art making.

[@primaler]

Nice primer! Funny though how no KZbin discussion of the topic I've seen so far draws parallels between gig economy workers and youtubers themselves. Content creators, unionize! (fat chance)

[@Anna-md5nc]

My best friend helped found a union that drove Deliveroo out of Germany. Never give up!!

[@jonsnowver4183]

Wow. Capitalists found a way to sell us the means of production. And just like anything under capitalism, it sucks.

[@mxpronounced3224]

Outstanding work, as always!

[@merelymayhem]

great breakdown of the current situation, i´m really saddened by how many people exploit themselves beliving in those neoliberal myths that don´t hold up to any deeper look

[@scoutfungi1771]

tech gig worker, video on point

[@kwicksandz]

i think i discovered your channel about 6 months or so ago when i had to write about Foucault, the youtube algorithm just surfaced you again. subscribed!

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Haha, the mythical algorithm does occasionally work then it seems! Thanks!

[@yabyum108]

Excellent work, Tom. Thanks.

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Thank you!

[@vercingetorix1557]

It took until 15.40 for you to bring it up...thank you.

[@simonlarocque328]

this helped me out a lot, thanks Tom :)

[@rafa_leo_siempre]

Brilliant analysis! Thank you :)

[@willygrags4367]

People actually pay me to read their fortune on fiverr. I’m in disbelief that this actually works. They don’t know I’m literally just some 18 year old who wants to make a quick buck.

[@Dong_Harvey]

In the US, gig employment (contracting) is filed under 1099 for taxes.. As a former 1099 employee, I can guarantee that the tax rate is bullshit up until $50k income.. The structure is defined to punish independent contractors for even existing unless they are getting a much higher than average income for gig-employees

[@mattheww9772]

I would like you to do an analysis of democracy at large in the world. It seems to me that as Neolibberal capitalism takes hold it forces a government out of balance. Representing the average person seems an obstacle to capitalist economic goals. Such you discuss in this video. The new version of capitalism appears to favor autocratic government control that are undemocratic and unconcerned with the will of the commoner. Is that the only way forward? What answers are there to multinational companies without government oversight but support for their, private, agenda from governments in terms of the average democracy loving citizen?

[@Tom_Nicholas]

I might look at something like this but usually I like to find a bit of a specific focus (as it keeps the videos from being too unwieldy!). One of the key projects of neoliberalism has been to shrink the power of the state and this increasingly puts us in a position where nation states simply don't have the means or legal ability to challenge the practices of corporations. Globalisation has also played a key role in this, allowing corporations to play countries off against one another so that, if one country thinks about raising corporation tax, say, they can simply threaten to take their factories elsewhere. The manner in which corporations are able to operate in one country whilst paying tax in a much lower-tax country is also an issue (when KZbin pays me my cut of the ad revenue, for instance, it comes from Ireland because Ireland has a lower tax rate). With regard to that aspect of things, I'm in favour of countries taxing companies for the profits made in that country (and forcing them to do so honestly, not "moving" the profit elsewhere). With regard to the larger stuff, I'm not entirely certain what the way forward is/should be.

[@chrishale5213]

@@Tom_Nicholas I think this highlights the aging relevance of nationalism. Nationalism was an ideal to be strived for from a Kingdom or Colony to a Nation state. Now, however, nation states are being rendered irrelevant due to global scale problems. Climate change, the immigrations around the world, multinational corporations, and "spheres of influence" by imperial nation states has moved us away from the nation ideal.

[@allhumansarejusthuman.5776]

One minute in and I am debating watching it all because the answer, from a former gig worker, is yes of course, it's both

[@reidwallace4258]

I think one of the sickest parts of all this is that it isn't even all in the pursuit of profit... not simply profit, it is the pursuit of the maximum possible profit, and it must grow every year, forever. Honestly, if all capitalists cared about was breaking even we would not even be talking about this shit, but simply enough profits to ensure they and their descendants will never need to work isn't enough, they must MAXIMIZE them profits.

[@deltahalo241]

I feel like the gig economy would be pretty alright with a Universal Basic Income

[@gabriela.s98]

This is amazing, thank you so much.

[@drworm77]

I haven’t finished the video yet, but I’m waiting for the part where he talks about unionisation

[@gerudo849]

The first 5 seconds confused me because I thought it was an ad and I was waiting for a skip button

[@uniball5667]

Soooo, im a welder and I don't work in the gig economy, but at around 17:00 he talks about how because gig workers are self employed, they can't unionize right? Sooooo, why not create a worker owned co-op that basically acts as a union for gig economy workers? Basically make a "temp agency" that isn't really a temp agency that companies like uber or doordash have to hire to have workers. As a co-op that acts as a company, you could demand a certain rate from them, and so long as you try and hire as many gig economy workers as possible, they won't be able to use the reserve army of labor against you. Just a random thought.

[@MrTomtomtest]

Ubers are just as expensive as taxis are in my city but less money is given to the worker himself... It is just way more convenient and Uber pool is cheaper. Two things the taxi industry just missed entirely.

[@appa609]

So surge pricing was a big deal in march - may 2020 when the first lockdowns in Canada were coming in and food delivery demand often surpassed supply. At doordash the average was +$2 per ride but some shifts it was as high as +$15 per ride. I don't believe for a second that DD was making profits on the higher surged deliveries. Instead they were just footing some losses to keep customers happy with the company and maybe try to get more riders online.