Gaming the System: App Workers Rarely Win

Way back when factories were the new thing, there were no rules to stop the big industrialists from paying starvation wages and putting workers’ lives in danger in fire-prone buildings. Today, those out-of-control bosses have been replaced by apps. If apps miscalculate and send drivers in the wrong direction, or lower wages for drivers stuck in traffic, it’s the driver who loses wages, or is even booted from the platform. The latest episode of My Boss Is a Robot shows that for app-based  companies, these are not bugs–they are built into an algorithmic system designed to move money from workers […]