Exploring the Impact of Platform Capitalism on China's Rural Migrant Workforce

The rise of the platform-based gig economy has created a labor market characterized by the prevalence of freelance work, such as food delivery and ride-hailing. In China, emerging gig platforms have attracted many rural migrant workers away from traditional jobs in factories and construction sites, enabling surplus rural laborers to participate in the urban labor market in new ways. Migrant gig workers have flexible work hours and more extensive spatial and social engagement in the city compared to traditional industrial workers. However, gig workers are subject to pervasive surveillance and control by platform-based algorithms, leading to distinct and even hazardous practices.

This study employs mixed methods to unpack the tension between gig platforms’ algorithmic control and Chinese rural migrant workers’ negotiation for choice and autonomy. Questionnaire survey data are analyzed in a comparative framework to contrast the conditions and experiences of gig workers with those of regular workers in terms of migration, family arrangements, daily practices, and life prospects. Participant observation and interviews unravel how migrant workers engage with the gig economy and are subject to its unconventional form of surveillance and control. In a context where gig platforms have prevailed with little regulatory oversight, the analysis sheds light on how platform-based algorithmic control affects work and life. The findings inform policies to facilitate techno-economic innovations and prevent safety hazards and negative social impacts. The study also generates data for international comparative analysis on the effects of platform capitalism on workforce structure, employment, and labor conditions.