Slashdot Mirror
More Gig Economy Workers Can Now Get Paid On Demand (bloomberg.com)
The gig economy is built on people offering their services on demand. Now more of them will have the option of getting paid just as quickly, reports Bloomberg. From the report: Care.com Inc., Instacart Inc., Postmates Inc. and several other marketplace providers will soon start giving workers the chance to cash out their earnings immediately, instead of waiting for the usual weekly deposit. That's because Stripe Inc., the payment processing service that underpins many of the on-demand companies, will introduce the feature to all customers for a fee. Quick cash is a big draw for workers. Stripe originally built a version of instant payouts at the request of Lyft Inc., the largest U.S. ride-hailing app behind Uber. Lyft began offering same-day pay to its drivers in December. Since then, Stripe has processed $500 million in instant payments for Lyft, and half of all driver payouts now go through that feature, the companies said. "It shows us how valuable this product is to drivers," said Lachy Groom, Stripe's cards lead.
Gig economy is ultimately about absolving corporate responsibility and offloading traditional costs of employment on society while retaining control of the profits and money flow.
Historically, corporations were responsible for worker well-being. Work accidents, unemployment insurance, disability and illness, old age benefits were all part of the pay package. This was fought for and won by unions during early industrial age (aka the robber-baron age). Over past 30 years corporations fought hard to reverse these gains. First, pensions were absolved. Now, with this gig economy the rest of protections are being removed. We already have undischargable student dept.
At this rate, we will be back to debt slavery, compelled work, and company towns in another decade or so. Only this time it will be "gig economy" and "enabled entrepreneurship" or some other PR BS.
Doesn't this really just show how poorly the drivers are doing? Why would anyone pay a fee to get their money now instead of at the end of the week or month? Because they have absolutely no money! Also reinforces the poverty by taking the money from people who have no choice but to pay up.
Gig economy is ultimately about absolving corporate responsibility and offloading traditional costs of employment on society while retaining control of the profits and money flow. Historically, corporations were responsible for worker well-being. Work accidents, unemployment insurance, disability and illness, old age benefits were all part of the pay package. This was fought for and won by unions during early industrial age (aka the robber-baron age). Over past 30 years corporations fought hard to reverse these gains. First, pensions were absolved. Now, with this gig economy the rest of protections are being removed. We already have undischargable student dept. At this rate, we will be back to debt slavery, compelled work, and company towns in another decade or so. Only this time it will be "gig economy" and "enabled entrepreneurship" or some other PR BS.
Hit the nail on the head, and it practically disgusts me that those who find little or no value with traditional costs and benefits (mainly due to lack of experience, ignorance, or both) are practically championing the "gig economy".
It's like watching someone demand every online service for free, and then watch them bitch and moan about a lack of privacy, failing to understand that they sold their privacy soul in order to avoid any material cost.
TL; DR - Ignorance always comes at a price.
Is it just me or are we moving towards the movie "In Time"? Now we get paid daily for our daily bread ... er time. Just a few advances with regards to ageing and we'll be all set.
If anyone wants to see how well those gig economy workers are doing overall, here's a perfect example. Admittedly it's an optional service, but the fact that they can offer someone a fee-based service to access their pay immediately doesn't paint the picture of happy carefree workers.
Check cashing places and payday loan companies are other examples of companies making money off other peoples' bad situations. If your credit sucks so badly that you can't open a bank account, helpful businesses like this will happily cash that check for you...for a price. Low-wage employers are also doing stuff like putting employee pay on a debit card loaded with extra fees to access the funds. Most of the big retailers like supermarkets, Walmart, etc. don't write paper checks to employees anymore, and present this as the only option if you can't get a checking account. Even food stamp and welfare recipients, the people who are most likely to not be able to make good financial decisions, are having their benefits paid out electronically.
I think the gig economy cheerleaders will come around to championing stable employment when traditional employers figure out a way to treat their entire workforce like this.
It's not just that the protections are being removed - so are the capital costs and the recurring costs for consumables (tires, fuel, etc), as well as "plant maintenance," insurance, etc. Unlike regular contractors, you can't negotiate price, you can't control the schedule for when a task has to be completed by putting more or fewer resources into it, etc. Uber drivers are not contractors, and the Uber gig economy is a lie.
"Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
Charging people money to get their money they earned?
This isn't an innovation, it's just a new style of advance loan, like ripoff payday loans and tax refund loans.
http://lkml.org/lkml/2005/8/20/95