America’s labor market continues to cool, and the gig economy is quietly absorbing some of the employment strain being felt across the country.
A new Goldman Sachs analysis found that platform-based gig work opportunities — which include major tech players like Uber, DoorDash, and Instacart — are holding up as traditional payroll growth cools.
About 20% of people who lost pay, lost a job, or had hours cut turned to gig platforms to make up the difference, the analysis said. More signs of a shrinking labor market are expected in this week’s delayed September payrolls report, which is set to be released on Thursday.
Who’s gonna take all the extra ubers if everyone is out of work and has to drive for uber to get by?
Who’s gonna order from all the extra doordashers if people have to work for doordash to afford their lunch?
And most importantly what happens when the competition between many extra doordashers drives down pay (the mechanism for which is already built in to the way gig work pays by the gig, fewer of which will be split between more drivers) means even the people working for doordash can no longer afford lunch?
This is not sustainable in the slightest. We are using bubbles to cushion our falls from other bubbles as they pop. It’s bubbles all the way down. We’re in a recession, maybe a depression, hard to say because there are so many bubbles we haven’t even reached the ground yet.
If more and more Americans go out of work, less people will be able to afford door dash, and those who can still afford door dash will probably spend less or tip less too. You’ll also be competing with more and more people who need that tip because they’re looking for extra door dash work.
I’m hoping more people go back to not using these delivery apps and just do pickup or delivery through the actual restaurant. It’s cheaper for me, all of the money goes to the restaurant, and it’s faster and I know my food is right because I’m the one who picked it up and checked. After you experience waiting an hour for a delivery and they still get it wrong, you wonder why you’re doing this. What’s the point when I could pick that same food up for less cost in half the time? Is delivery that important of a feature that you’re willing to sometimes double the cost of your order just so you don’t have to get off the couch?
It could be in certain situations.
Not saying people shouldn’t deliver. I still use it when I’m sick and don’t wanna spread it, there’s definitely a place for this service, but the experience, cost, and value are all out of whack, in my opinion.
