‘Things are not going to get better for the worker’ as gig economy companies face pressure to cut costs and increase revenue, said one analyst.
More Americans than ever are turning to the so-called gig economy—providing services ranging from taxi services to grocery deliveries, often through digital platforms—either on the side or as a career.
The marketplace, however, is no longer the “subsidized fantasy land” it once was, one former gig worker says. An analyst described pursuing gig work as a career as “the biggest mistake of your life.”
Several app-based drivers say the pay now is barely worth the effort. Others say there are issues such as lack of transparency around net pay.
Sergio Avedian, 57, a part-time driver in the Los Angeles area, told The Epoch Times workers are told they are making a certain hourly wage, but the amount is often misleading.
In reality, workers are paid only for time spent with a passenger or package in the car. So if gig workers spend an average of 15 minutes fulfilling a task and the rest of the hour either looking for or driving to a job, they are paid only for a quarter of the time they actually work.
Eddie Doyle, 36, a writer and content creator in the Philadelphia area who is mostly retired from driving for Uber and Lyft, said that on balance, most workers whose gig involves driving are probably actually losing money due to fuel expenses and the deterioration of their vehicles.
Doyle, who began driving in 2015, said pay used to be better. These days, Doyle said Uber or Lyft drivers in a major American city likely need to work 60 to 80 hours a week—splitting driving time among multiple apps—to earn a decent wage.
“I think the vast majority of [gig workers] are struggling,” Pedro Santiago, 42, a driver based near St. Louis who splits his working time among five app-based gig jobs, told The Epoch Times.
