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At The Mercy Of An App: Workers Feel The Instacart Squeeze [Gig Economy]
NPR ^ | November 25, 2019 | Alina Selyukh

Posted on 12/12/2019 12:28:33 PM PST by C19fan

Working for Instacart — buying and delivering groceries to strangers — at first felt like Michaellita Fortier's childhood dream of starring on the speed-shopping TV show Supermarket Sweep.

"It was fun in the beginning," Fortier says. She felt like she was helping people in need while making as much as $16 or $20 per delivery.

But then the app inundated her with orders worth half that, $7 or $9 per delivery. For that money, she was expected to go to the store, shop, fill a cart and deliver an order, sometimes driving 10 or 15 miles.

"I thought, 'Now listen, this is less than minimum wage you want me to drive [for],' " Fortier says. After seven months of working for Instacart in west Michigan, she quit the gig in October.

Millions of Americans like Fortier have counted on platforms like Instacart, DoorDash, Uber or Lyft not just as a service but as a job. Quickly, they find themselves at the mercy of an algorithm — ever-changing pay structures, no assurance of a minimum wage, the smallest tweak of the app capable of upending their livelihoods.

(Excerpt) Read more at npr.org ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Computers/Internet
KEYWORDS: gig; instacart
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To: I want the USA back

Getting paid outweighs not getting paid.


21 posted on 12/12/2019 1:04:37 PM PST by ctdonath2 (Specialization is for insects.)
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To: dp0622

You, disagreeable? Preposterous!


22 posted on 12/12/2019 1:10:37 PM PST by Lurkina.n.Learnin (If you want a definition of "bullying" just watch the Democrats in the Senate)
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To: fproy2222

Try Shipt!


23 posted on 12/12/2019 1:15:47 PM PST by Maskot (Put every dem/lib in prison........like yesterday!!!)
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To: Lurkina.n.Learnin

ROFLMAO!!

Man I can be one MISERABLE SOB too often :)

It’s my New Years resolution to REALLY work on that.

I should end my posts with what else is going on in my head at the same time, like (DAMN JOB!), (DAMN WOMAN!), (DAMN MUSCLE PAIN!), (DAMN BILLS!) :)


24 posted on 12/12/2019 1:17:03 PM PST by dp0622 (Radicals, racists Don't point fingers at me I'm a small town white boy Just tryin' to make ends meet)
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To: ctdonath2

Try Shipt instead!!!


25 posted on 12/12/2019 1:17:35 PM PST by Maskot (Put every dem/lib in prison........like yesterday!!!)
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To: Vigilanteman

Hard to exploit someone who wants to work a shopping gig. The service exists for a reason.


26 posted on 12/12/2019 1:18:51 PM PST by Maskot (Put every dem/lib in prison........like yesterday!!!)
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To: Maskot

Instacart was using people’s tips to subsidize the separate guaranteed minimum payout per job. That sounds pretty damn exploitive to me.


27 posted on 12/12/2019 1:24:38 PM PST by TheDandyMan
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To: TheDandyMan

source?


28 posted on 12/12/2019 1:27:45 PM PST by BTerclinger (MAGA)
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To: Mr. Rabbit

*** If these outfits want to force their drivers to take garbage no-profit jobs... ***

How, exactly, does an outfit do that?

It’s a two-way transaction, and both parties must agree.


29 posted on 12/12/2019 1:28:38 PM PST by MV=PY (The Magic Question: Who's paying for it?)
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To: TheDandyMan

Instacart definitely did exploit their shoppers! Stole their tips too.

Try Shipt instead!


30 posted on 12/12/2019 1:33:46 PM PST by Maskot (Put every dem/lib in prison........like yesterday!!!)
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To: C19fan

Go buy your own s#it.


31 posted on 12/12/2019 1:33:49 PM PST by bigbob (Trust Trump. Trust the Plan.)
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To: TheDandyMan

But their shoppers kept working for them. There are other gig options


32 posted on 12/12/2019 1:34:45 PM PST by Maskot (Put every dem/lib in prison........like yesterday!!!)
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To: BTerclinger

The article we’re purportedly discussing :)


33 posted on 12/12/2019 1:37:58 PM PST by TheDandyMan
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To: Vigilanteman

You can tip your delivery driver. In cash. Lot’s of cash if you like...


34 posted on 12/12/2019 1:42:58 PM PST by reintarnation (not a noob, i just change my identity over the years...)
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To: Maskot
So that makes it...Not exploitive? If a guy beats his wife and she doesn’t leave is it okay?

Wrong is wrong.

35 posted on 12/12/2019 1:51:24 PM PST by TheDandyMan
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To: C19fan

If you want the sales business, you have to put up with the 10000 single candy bar sales, as well as that multidollar home stereo system collecting dust!!


36 posted on 12/12/2019 1:54:56 PM PST by Terry L Smith
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To: Vigilanteman

>>>Then we considered the morality of exploiting one of our fellow human beings for the reasons mentioned and took a pass.

If you are concerned about their compensation, you could always tip more.


37 posted on 12/12/2019 1:55:56 PM PST by oincobx
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To: C19fan

I have used them from time to time. They work out fine for me when my wife and I don’t feel like going to the store ourselves.


38 posted on 12/12/2019 1:57:40 PM PST by packrat35 (Pelosi is only on loan to the world from Satan. Hopefully he will soon want his baby killer back)
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To: reintarnation; ctdonath2
Yeah, I can. But there is a point where I'd rather just do it myself.

Back in the day, people justified slavery by telling themselves "Those slaves would've just been killed by other tribes in Africa if we hadn't brought them over. They owe me because I saved their life."

If you can't pay a reasonably fair price for work, then do it yourself or make other arrangements.

39 posted on 12/12/2019 1:58:24 PM PST by Vigilanteman (The politicized state destroys aspects of civil society, human kindness and private charity.)
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To: TheDandyMan

I am not implying that at all. I’m saying the company sucks and steals and exploits their shoppers. It is NOT right in the least.

What I AM saying is that if a worker feels they are being exploited, they can get a different job. Period. Instead they complain. If enough of these people bail on Instacart and word on the street is they exploit their workforce, IC will have a hard time keeping and hiring people AND being profitable unless they change their ways.


40 posted on 12/12/2019 2:18:06 PM PST by Maskot (Put every dem/lib in prison........like yesterday!!!)
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