Health and safety in the gig economy

The gig economy poses significant health and safety issues for workers. Often the debate over the gig economy revolves solely around flexibility and pay, here are some of the main health and safety issues for the gig economy. Tiredness As working in the gig economy is often a side-job from other forms of employment, working …

Gig economy empowers students?

Another news article post this week, one that'll expand on in two ways. The post comes from The State Press, a student-ran news organisation from Arizona State University. And students are a main topic of the article, titled: "Gig economy empowers students". As the title suggests, the article considers the flexibility of work in the …

My Delivery Route

Something a bit different this week! I worked last night for a standard three-hour shift and recorded the when and where of my delivery routes. Walking around London you're bound to see delivery riders, but you often don't know where they're going and where they've been. Whilst I worked, I had the app Strava running …

The ‘Frank’ algorithm and the Taylor Review

A new Deliveroo app algorithm, nicknamed 'Frank', has arrived with important implications including in relation to the UK Taylor Review. The algorithm uses machine learning to continually evaluate the most efficient way to assign orders to riders. It does this by considering a range of factors including meal preparation time, time of day, vehicle and distance. …

I’m Lovin’ The Gig Economy

Well, it seems the gig economy is going in unexpected directions! UberEATS will be distributing McDonald's 'fast-food swag' along with food and drink orders this July 26th. Called 'The McDelivery Collection', if you order from McDonald's, through UberEATS, in one of ten countries, you'll also be receiving a McDonald's item for free. There's a whole range of things on …

Pay Structure

I've only been working for three weeks now and I've already got the potential to change contract. They've offered to change my pay from an hourly rate to a fee per delivery structure. I'm not sure if/when I will change, but I thought it'd be interesting to write about them, and maybe it'll help me reach …

First Shifts

I have now begun working in the gig economy! I worked 6:30-9:30 Friday, Saturday and Sunday (and will be each week). I'll be going into more detail on specific aspects of working in the future but, for now, I thought it'd be useful to outline a general shift. Each rider chooses a specific area to work …

Taster Session

So my taster session is complete and I'm now a fully certified food/drink deliverer! The whole process took around four hours in total (advertised as two). It began by being assessed on ability to cycle in London. You essentially cycle to a location with an 'assessor' following to determine how safely you can cycle from point-to-point. …