Assessing the economic sustainability of gig work: A case of hyper-local food delivery workers in Kolkata, India

Abstract

Gigs were once heralded as work ushering in flexibility, freeing workers from the constraints of time, space, and nagging human managers. However it has been marked by long work hours and an unstable income. This has led to a situation where gig workers are increasingly demanding labor rights. Gig work has been qualitatively explored, highlighting the elements of control exercised by the platform companies. However, there is a dearth of quantitative assessment of the economic sustainability of gig work. In this context, this study explores gig work using the case of hyper-local food delivery in India. The first part uses an agent-based and discrete event simulation (parameterized using primary data) to map the net earnings of workers under varying wage rates. The results show that, at the present wage rate, the food delivery worker has an average net earning of INR 265/day (USD 12.10), considering both the fixed and variable cost of operation. This earning is far below that of an average self-employed worker and casual laborer in urban India. Finally, this study proposes a fixed hourly wage rate of INR 37.84 (USD 1.72) to eliminate the variability in worker earnings without inflating the cost of food delivery.