| Abstrakt: |
This article analyzes the expectations of digital platform workers in delivery and transportation services in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, and Spain about the future of their work. Using a mixed method, we analyze responses to an open-ended question from a questionnaire applied in 2021 to 971 platform workers in the five countries. We use content analysis and statistical tests to classify and compare results. Workers’ expectations differ according to two major categories referred to: living and working conditions. Despite the significant heterogeneity between countries, workers in Colombia and Spain rate platform work more positively, while those in Chile and Argentina exhibit views that are more negative. Regarding working conditions, platform workers’ evaluations tend to be more negative than living conditions, except for Colombian participants. Favorable expectations focus on the possibility of finding new job opportunities, whereas pessimistic expectations are based on uncertainties and low pay. Still, expectations about the gig economy are more optimistic than expected, based on objectively poor employment conditions; objective working conditions and subjective perceptions can be reconciled considering the widespread labor precariousness. Finally, workers associate this type of work with transition stages (educational, labor, or personal), especially among the youngest. Although we did not find significant disparities by age, we have found different emphases between women, men, and non-binary individuals. Gender expectations seem to be a dimension that requires further exploration in the future, considering the sexual division of labor and the conciliatory “possibilities” between work and family offered by these jobs. |
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