“Is your gig any good?” Analysing job quality in the Australian platform-based food-delivery sector
2019/02/01 by Caleb Goods, Alex Veen, Tom Barratt · 1 voice · 27 citations
Business, Management and Accounting · Health Professions · Social Sciences · #Digital Economy and Work Transformation #Employment and Welfare Studies #Sharing Economy and Platforms
paper · doi:10.1177/0022185618817069
openalex publication_date 2019/02/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
Abstract
This qualitative industry case study evaluates job quality in the Australian platform-based food-delivery sector, one part of the growing gig economy where workers, as independent contractors, engage in digitally-enabled and controlled work that is remunerated on a piece rate basis. Using a multi-dimensional framework, we draw on worker accounts of economic security, autonomy and enjoyment to assess job quality. This study posits that to achieve a more refined picture of job quality, both objective and workers’ subjective understandings of work need to be understood in the context of their respective ‘fit’ in terms of individual circumstances, labour market alternatives and the broader socio-political context. This multi-level analysis problematises individual accounts that risk overemphasising the positive elements of platform-based work. Moreover, rather than sitting neatly in a Post- or Neo-Fordist extension of job quality, the findings reveal that the gig economy is a new juncture in capitalist production, the consequences of which need to be taken seriously by regulators, scholars, workers and other relevant stakeholders.
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