Alex Rosenblat
Data & Society Research Institute
Luke Stark
New York University (NYU)
October
15, 2015
Abstract:
This empirical study explores labor in the
on-demand economy using the rideshare service Uber as a case
study. By conducting sustained monitoring of online driver
forums and interviewing Uber drivers, we explore worker
experiences within the on-demand economy. We argue that Uber’s
digitally and algorithmically mediated system of flexible
employment builds new forms of surveillance and control into the
experience of using the system, which result in asymmetries
around information and power for workers. In Uber’s system,
algorithms, CSRs, passengers, semiautomated performance
evaluations, and the rating system all act as a combined
substitute for direct managerial control over drivers, but
distributed responsibility for remote worker management also
exacerbates power asymmetries between Uber and its drivers. Our
study of the Uber driver experience points to the need for
greater attention to the role of platform disintermediation in
shaping power relations and communications between employers and
workers.
Number
of Pages in PDF File: 17
Keywords:
digital labor, on-demand economy, Uber, interaction design,
flexible employment, ridesharing, algorithm, data, middle
manager, rating, surge pricing, entrepreneurship, algorithm,
predictive scheduling, sharing economy, workplace surveillance