Neither timeless, nor placeless: Control of food delivery gig work via place-based working time regimes

Abstract

Working time regimes in platform labour are so far either ignored as a topic in research on gig work, or they are framed as an allocative instrument only. This article argues that working time regimes instead have both a coordinating and controlling effect. Adopting the analytical framework of labour process theory, the article hence focuses on the interrelation of working time and control regimes. The empirical material presented stems from research on platform-based food courier work in Germany and is based on a mixed methods research design consisting of interviews, multi-sited ethnography and a survey. The findings show that platforms implement hybrid control regimes that are not only based on the sufficiently analysed algorithmic management, but also on complementary control through working time regimes: temporal control. Platforms organise intra-platform markets where workers compete for shifts by means of performance. Thus, platforms are able to ensure an efficient and simultaneously reliable use of an autonomous and spatially distributed workforce. Furthermore, it is shown that platform labour is not placeless, either. The effects of its control regime vary according to different local conditions. As a result, platforms cannot be analysed only as techno-cultural ecosystems, but also as local-specific socio-economic structures.