How Much Are People Making from the Sharing Economy? • Hacker News Board

Re: How Much Are People Making from the Sharing Economy?

#101

Post by MichaelMoser123 » Tue, Jul 25, 2017, 4:22 AM UTC

_yosefk wrote: post #37

neilwilson wrote: post #36

Anybody who studied how British dock workers were hired in the late 19th Century could have told you this. Those who fail to study history are doomed to repeat it. Never believe the hype about extreme individualism. You will always certainly make far more money if you team up with others and make your case politically.

You mean if everyone teams up and makes their case politically, we'll all make far more, in real terms? So teaming up increases overall productivity? (Not impossible but would need more evidence than teaming up increasing bargaining power, though of course the latter needs evidence, too as a junior unionized worker doesn't have bargaining power against senior workers whom union arrangements incidentally tend to benef…

productivity changes are only part of the picture, for example real wages for most people didn't change much over the last decades, despite fabulous increases in productivity.

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/10/09/for-most-wor...

(Still don't know how they measure real wages and purchasing power, thirty years ago you couldn't get a smartphone )

Re: How Much Are People Making from the Sharing Economy?

#102

Post by candiodari » Wed, Jul 26, 2017, 9:22 AM UTC

jahaja wrote: post #62

KaiserPro wrote: post #57

In the UK at least, the "sharing" economy is basically a way of paying employees less. There are two types of employment, contracted employees (that is employees that are directly employed by a company) and "self employed" (where the employee creates a single person company, which the employer then contracts) the reason why "self employed" is popular amongst the gig employers is not because its "flexible" its because…

This is surely the main feature of what's euphemistically called "the sharing economy". It's so frustratingly cynical.

This isn't the first time this happens either. Doing everything freelance was a big thing end of 80s beginning of 90s as well. It had the exact same problems and was legislated and taxed out of existence.

For the people earning, let's face facts here, "the gig economy" is a big tax dodging scheme (also regulation dodging). Not even just tax dodging: How many Uber drivers switch their healthcare to the freelancer healthcare, as is required by those contracts (and it's more expensive) ? As soon as the tax office gets permission from the government to say what they definitely want to say : "taxes need to be withheld by the sharing economy companies before paying out", the gig economy is over and done for.

In the end the "gig economy" is the result of endemic unemployment. It is a normal feature of the employment landscape in 2nd/3rd world countries and it is a huge impediment to progress.

Re: How Much Are People Making from the Sharing Economy?

#103

Post by candiodari » Wed, Jul 26, 2017, 9:51 AM UTC

dalbasal wrote: post #92

jahaja wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure why your definition of labour movement is so local rather than national/global? It seems like a strange premise to your whole reply. Causal employment doesn't have to mean worse worker rights. We don't seem to disagree that much, I'm just questioning that you think it's the top priority. I'm surprised by your bike delivery claim because I've recently seen exactly the opposite; the organizing of strikes i…

I'm not sure what the dynamic is in Germany, but here (Ireland), the subtext to such demands would almost certainly be upgrading these delivery people to permanent employee status. The way the law (much of it case law and labour court conventions) works currently is that arrangements similar to permanent employment are considered permanent employment, with all rights. If a company wants to keep it's "contractors'" st…

You do touch on a point here: this gig economy only exists because full time employment does not offer living wages in the majority of the places where it exists.

Re: How Much Are People Making from the Sharing Economy?

#104

Post by WheelsAtLarge » Thu, Jul 27, 2017, 4:00 AM UTC

closeparen wrote: post #49

nickthemagicman wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is less with the qualities of the job and more with the pay of the job. It's poverty wages and exploitative. It's not profiting off these people, it's profiteering off of them.

In what ways do you think they would be better off if these companies were shut down?

No don't shut them down. Just make sure they're not jobs where people are struggling.