As a former gig-courier myself, I can attest to how these platforms cut wages in a way that’s super psychologically manipulative.
You see the amount you’re making fall over time and are convinced that it’s because of your performance precisely because the tech companies have transferred so much risk to you, as the article discusses. I ended up quitting because I was making too little, but I told myself it was because so many people had signed up that the platform was just crowded.
“‘Every winter, they used to cut rates,” he went on. “Everyone would be outraged. I would be outraged. But then new people would sign up.”’