On September 6, 2024, PhD student Riyaj Shaikh will present his ongoing work on “The Interplay Between Technology, Economic Pressure, and Physical Labor in the Gig Economy”. The seminar takes place at the Department of Computer and Systems Sciences (DSV), Stockholm University.

Respondent: Riyaj Shaikh, DSV
Opponent: Professor Claus Bossen, Aarhus University, Denmark
Main supervisor: Airi Lampinen, DSV
Supervisor: Barry Brown, DSV
Professor closest to the subject: Oskar Juhlin, DSV

Contact information for Riyaj Shaikh

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Abstract

This thesis offers a detailed in-situ understanding of food delivery work performed for an algorithmically curated online food delivery platform from the delivery workers’ perspective. This type of labor is a contemporary form of employment, widely referred to as ’gig labor’, where workers are generally classified as independent contractors rather than traditional employees, engaged in short-term, flexible jobs facilitated by digital platforms [1]).

The thesis argues that the delivery workers’ labor on the ground, driven by their economic considerations, is core for making the online food delivery platform’s workflow work and plays an infrastructural role in the platform’s operations. Yet the platform selectively quantifies workers’ situated presence to the extent that it can be algorithmically monitored, assessed, and managed. While relying on the selectively abstracted representations of workers’ presence and performance in situ, the platforms tend to ignore workers’ socialities and efforts beyond the workflow, which, as argued, are critical for infrastructure-making, completing the gig, and ensuring their earnings.

This work assembles two separate empirical studies performed in distinct parts of the world– first in a global south setting, Pune, India, and second in a global north context, Stockholm, Sweden. The first study was an ethnographic exploration of the food delivery work in India, focusing on capturing the delivery workers’ mundane work, troubles, and responses. The second study comprises unstructured interactions and observations with food delivery workers mainly to probe the pause between the two delivery orders.

The thesis builds on Multimethod research [2], employing a range of qualitative research methods such as semi-structured telephonic interviews, field visits, informal conversations, contextual observations, video recordings, and first-hand experiences of the studied work practice. The varied qualitative data collected during the fieldwork was analyzed using thematic analysis, with a close, moment-by-moment analysis performed on selected portions of the video data. Portions of the video data were also included in the thematic analysis.

To comprehensively understand the studied gig work practice, the thesis attempts to answer three fundamental questions: 1. What are the work practices of online food delivery? 2. How do gig workers’ economic concerns impact their labor? 3. How does gig workers’ physical labor contribute to the gig platform’s operations? The thesis presents three sets of empirical documentation in response to these questions. The first recognizes a ’workflow’ system [3; 4] through which the online food delivery platform aims to structure the food delivery work in a particular manner. Here, I highlight the ’piecework’ [5] nature of the labor to show why workers perform ’double work’ to meet workflow demands and maximize their piecework earnings. The next set of empirical documentation closely analyzes workers’ social interactions throughout the delivery workflow, bridging the gap between the platform’s representation of the work and the contextual on-ground realities. The final set of empirical explanations shows how the platform’s location-based logic uses workers’ selectively quantified physical presence to manage the work while workers’ corporeal efforts build and repair the essential infrastructure for the platform to function.

This thesis makes significant contributions to the Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) domain by presenting a comprehensive approach to studying algorithmically managed work practices, emphasizing the integration of both digital and physical labor dimensions. Methodologically, it offers the HCI community to use of conversation analysis and ethnomethodology for performing moment-by-moment analysis of video recordings, capturing workers’ perspectives in work settings. Theoretically, it integrates key concepts from Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) such as workflow technology [3; 4], situated bodywork [6], infrastructure [7–9], and piecework [5], demonstrating their relevance in contemporary and emerging algorithmically curated work environments.