Uber and employment in the Global South – not-so-decent work

ABSTRACT

Due to its global standards and brand recognition, Uber has become an important form of transportation and is now found throughout the world. It has played a role in transforming local mobilities in many cities, particularly those lacking efficient public transportation options. Uber has played a particularly important role in increasing mobilities in places with security concerns, such as South Africa, due to their competitive rates, the accountability of drivers, and their innovative security features. Uber promotes itself as a peer-to-peer platform that connects drivers to riders, calling drivers ‘partners’, and vehemently dismissing any claims that it is an employer. The company advocates the ability of Uber to increase economic upliftment, particularly in the Global South. South Africa has staggering urban un-and-underemployment rates and, therefore, Uber can be seen as a potential tool for job creation or a means of supplementing low and inconsistent wages. A critical analysis of these claims demonstrates the manner in which Uber has emerged as an employment mechanism in South Africa within a ‘decent work’ framework. The findings are based on an analysis of detailed questionnaires distributed to Uber drivers based in South Africa as well as ethnographic research. It also draws on secondary sources, such as driver forums, newspaper articles and the Uber South Africa website. The findings demonstrate the many challenges faced by Uber drivers such as long working hours, low fares, subcontracting of drivers and concerns over driver safety. The paper introduces primary research in the form of driver surveys and questions the discourse propagated by the company as a mechanism for economic upliftment. In particular, the results show that working for Uber, according to these results, should not be considered decent work.

摘要

由于优步的全球性标准和品牌认知度, 它已经成为一种重要的交通方式, 现在世界各地都可以找到优步。在许多城市, 特别是那些缺乏高效公共交通选择的城市, 它在改变当地流动性方面发挥了作用。由于优步的竞争性费率、司机有责任感以及创新性的安全性能, 它在南非等存在安全问题的地区增加移动量方面发挥了特别重要的作用。优步标榜自己是一个将司机和乘客联系起来的点对点平台, 并称呼司机为’合作伙伴’, 并强烈驳斥任何声称自己是雇主的说法。该公司主张, 优步有能力促进经济增长, 尤其是在南半球地区。南非有惊人的城市失业和待就业率, 因此, 优步可以被视为一种创造就业机会或弥补工资低且不按时发放的潜在手段。对这些说法的批判性分析表明, 优步已成为南非“体面工作”框架下的一种就业机制。该研究结果的得出是基于对南非优步司机的详细问卷调查以及民族志研究, 还利用了诸如司机论坛、报纸文章和优步南非网站等二手信息资源。调查结果显示, 优步的司机面临着的诸多挑战, 如工作时间长、车费低、司机分包以及对司机安全的担忧。本文以优步司机调查的形式介绍了初步研究, 并对公司鼓吹的把优步视为经济提升机制的话语提出了质疑。特别是根据本研究结果表明, 优步工作不应该被视为体面的工作。

KEYWORDS:

• Platform economy
• sharing economy
• Uber
• ridesharing
• employment
• decent work
• South Africa

关键词:

• 平台经济
• 分享经济
• 优步
• 拼车
• 就业
• 体面工作
• 南非

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 As of 10 October 2019, USD1 = ZAR15.16.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Julia K. Giddy

Julia K. Giddy is a lecturer at the University of Mpumalanga in South Africa and a senior research associate the University of Johannesburg. She is a tourism geographer who’s research focuses on human-environment interaction in tourism and the tourism-poverty nexus.