Gig Economy and the New Generation of Rural Migrant Workers in Urban China

The rise of the gig economy has created a labor market characterized by a prevalence of freelance work, such as food delivery and ride-hailing. Instead of earning a regular wage from a steady job, these workers are paid for the gigs they complete, such as a car ride or food delivery. In the U.S., 36 percent of the working population has participated in the gig economy in some capacity. In the U.K., one in seven working-age adults has taken platform-based gig jobs. In China, 78 million gig workers have provided services to 800 million people in 2019, creating a market worth of 474 billion U.S. dollars. The gig economy is exerting disruptive power over existing norms and institutions, driving a socioeconomic shift in what it means to be employed.

In China, emerging gig platforms have drawn many rural migrant workers out of working at factories and construction sites, enabling surplus rural laborers amid the economic downturn to participate in the urban labor market in a new way. Covid-19 has dealt another blow to the economy, resulting in cuts of about 80 million jobs in the service sector and 20 million jobs in manufacturing by the end of June 2020. Meanwhile, gig platforms have created an enormous amount of low-skilled and entry-level jobs, which attract not only millions of workers who have lost their regular jobs, but also more rural migrants who are new arrivals to the cities. Migrant gig workers have flexible work hours and more extensive spatial and social engagement in the city than traditional industrial workers. Yet, gig workers are subject to pervasive surveillance and controls by platform-based algorithms, leading to distinct and even hazardous practices. Questions including how the labor market of the gig economy drives new migration patterns and family split arrangements, how gig jobs create new options and constraints in the city and how migrant gig workers respond to algorithmic control to harness and/or fall victim to the new techno-economic system remain underresearched.

This study uses 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, focus groups and interviews are used to unravel how migrant workers engage with the gig economy and are subject to its unconventional form of surveillance and control. From the context where gig platforms have prevailed with little regulatory oversight, the preliminary findings suggest platform-based jobs facilitate social distancing and decentralized working and consumption, offering rural migrant workers an unconventional means to cope with unemployment and financial distress, demonstrating remarkable resilience during the economic and public health crises. The survey data of both conventional rural migrant workers and gig workers also updates knowledge on the contemporary conditions of China’s rural migrant workers.