Article: The "Not so Hidden" Work of Food Delivery
Author(s):
Abstract
Delivery workers cannot be overlooked. While they shape our cityscapes, this
work is often depicted as
invisible. Before the backdrop of the discussion about
hidden work, the question is: what does invisibility mean in case of food delivery?
To explore this, I refer to the perspective of workers writing about their experi-
ences in the Workers’ Inquiries. I show that delivery work is characterized by
various forms of visibility and invisibility, knowing and not-knowing, as well as
awareness and unawareness. Companies like Uber Eats, Foodora or Deliveroo
promote the idea of delivery without human workers. For courier drivers them-
selves, the algorithmic organization of their work proves to be opaque; at the
same time, they are dependent on the app interface. For delivery services, work-
ers whose location and delivery times are captured are transparent. And custom-
ers may take the convenience of delivery for granted.
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