This sounds extremely scummy, and if the story really is as simple as this article tells it I don't understand how the CEO of this company can look at himself in the mirror. I think a great example of an app that lets me give positive feedback to service people is Uber. They let you get a ride ASAP with as little decision making as possible, and then you can rate it after you get where you're going and you have some…
Instacart is playing games with its workers’ pay
51–60 of 371 posts
Re: Instacart is playing games with its workers’ pay
#52This sounds extremely scummy, and if the story really is as simple as this article tells it I don't understand how the CEO of this company can look at himself in the mirror. I think a great example of an app that lets me give positive feedback to service people is Uber. They let you get a ride ASAP with as little decision making as possible, and then you can rate it after you get where you're going and you have some…
Yea with Uber the drivers are just forced to grovel for your 5-star rating or face not getting future fares.
Re: Instacart is playing games with its workers’ pay
#53Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Star ratings allow Uber to compensate top performers without creating an inconvenient friction point for users. Uber drivers with a high rating get paid more?
If they don't it's a big mistake by Uber. But at least the infrastructure is in place for collecting detailed ratings and feedback.
Re: Instacart is playing games with its workers’ pay
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
So then your answer is no, because then the venture owners don't own the company.
I didn't realize your comment exclusively pertained to venture owners. Even so a venture owner could sell the company to the employees and move on to their next big thing.
But then, you'd be surprised at how many highly-compensated programmers never bother to exercise their options. The same ones who then go on Hacker News and complain about bad treatment of workers, and how if only they owned the companies.
Re: Instacart is playing games with its workers’ pay
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
Profit has to come from somewhere. You can't reimburse the workers the full value of their labour if you wish to make a profit. I'd say that counts as exploitation. Unfortunate, but thats the reality of capitalism.
Sure, but there's some space between "full value of one's labor" and table scraps.
Re: Instacart is playing games with its workers’ pay
#56They have tens of thousands of customers, yet are worth multiple billions of dollars (valued at $2bn in 2015.) That's just incredible. Let's say they have 100k customers who each use the service every week. That's 5.2m orders per year. Let's say $100 per order, to be generous. At a 10% service fee, that's $50m for a two-year-old 40x revenue multiple. Before paying their contracted workforce. This does not make sense.…
Re: Instacart is playing games with its workers’ pay
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Star ratings allow Uber to compensate top performers without creating an inconvenient friction point for users. Uber drivers with a high rating get paid more?
If they don't it's a big mistake by Uber. But at least the infrastructure is in place for collecting detailed ratings and feedback.
Re: Instacart is playing games with its workers’ pay
#58Re: Instacart is playing games with its workers’ pay
#59Why keep things murky? If it is against the law we have a justice system, I will not all of a sudden be reminded of greedy bankers on Wall Street being the reason that box was moved to a different screen. Do people benefit when things are less crystal clear? Why do we want them to stay that? Why should the tradition of tipping should still be alive in this country? What are we trying to prove? Who is benefiting? Do we enjoy this sadistic power imbalance every time we get a meal at a restaurant? Is it because it gives us control over livelihood of someone else? How is it any different that the Romans throwing Christians to the lions for their enjoyment? Let's create a society that we think is fair and just instead of trying to take things in our own hands. Engaging in social debate to win over your fellow citizens to see eye to eye with you on things like increasing the minimum wage would be a benefit not only to those at the bottom but also to the society as a whole if that's what you think is the right thing to do.
Re: Instacart is playing games with its workers’ pay
#60Not a US citizen but I find the whole tipping experience rather stressful and an additional item to worry about. I like it that Uber has it built into the service and there's only one thing to pay. I'd rather pay a flat increase on the menu and expect higher staff salaries than to have the delivery boy/waiter be at my mercy of tipping.