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Chinese food delivery drivers are facing hardships and exploitation amid an algorithmic regime that favours speed and efficiency over all else.
Renwu, a popular magazine, produced a long-form piece of investigative journalism in September 2020 that blew up the Chinese internet. "Delivery Workers, Trapped in the System" triggered widespread online outrage of the industry's labour standards, reported The HK Post. The focus of the research was on Meituan and Ele me, the two monopolies that dominate China's burgeoning food delivery industry. Both companies use "real-time intelligent delivery" systems that utilise cutting-edge AI to shorten the time to deliver products drastically. Since the coronavirus outbreak, food platform delivery drivers have been a symbol of exploitation in China. In 2016, Wang Xing, the company's creator, stated, "Our tagline is 'Meituan provides everything fast." "The average arrival time is 28 minutes, which is fantastic." The study, however, revealed a world in which anxiety, dread, loss of income, the threat of harm, and even death are all normalised for delivery drivers. Moreover, Ele.me, on the other hand, was embroiled in new controversy in February 2021, when Weibo users claiming to be delivery drivers accused the firm of dishonest and exploitative methods. Despite having a combined market share of 94.6 per cent, Meituan and Ele me's aggressive business approaches aren't exactly sustainable. According to an official Ele.me study from 2020, the average age of its couriers is roughly 31 years old, with the majority hailing from rural areas. Because of their status as rural migrants, they confront unique challenges in the world's most populated country, reported The HK Post. The United Nations Human Rights Commission identified the hukou system as a "major pillar" underpinning "sustained and systemic discrimination" against rural migrants, who are denied the same access to health care, education, housing, social security, and work as their urban counterparts. The increased awareness of delivery drivers' problems coincides with a greater dissatisfaction in China over how internet companies abuse their workers, reported The HK Post. Since 2019, there has been a rising reaction against the "996" culture, which sees employees working extraordinarily long hours: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week. "Involution" and "laying flat" are terms used to indicate dissatisfaction with the professional and social constraints that young people experience. Chinese President Xi Jinping has officially acknowledged them as severe societal issues. (ANI)
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