Under the cover of Internet invisibility, companies around the globe are using online gig platforms to break labor laws and violate human rights. The so-called gig economy (more akin to digital piecework) is exacerbating poverty and inequality, particularly in the Global South, by circumventing existing labor standards and imposing harsh working conditions and low wages on millions of workers. I was one of those workers, and I was recently fired, after seven years, for speaking up.
I had been working as a researcher at the New York-based company Ask Wonder in order to supplement my income as a freelance journalist in Mexico. The company provides personalized research reports to mostly corporate clients, who pay $150-200 (USD) per hour, or a custom rate, depending on the plan they’re on. While most full-time staff and executives are based in the US, almost all researchers live in Global South countries and earn $12.75 to $21.25 per hour, depending on tiers determined by internal auditing (those with an auditing score of 19/20 or more are paid the highest rates). The people doing the auditing are fellow freelance researchers, who score research based on set criteria.
Workers like myself were being paid just 10-15% of what clients paid for the research reports we wrote. The pay includes casual loading—a payment that is made in addition to one’s base wage in lieu of job security and basic benefits like sick days, retirement, health, and maternity leave. It includes rush fees,...
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has denied claims that it is selling scrap materials from its refineries, warning the public to disregard such information and remain alert to fraud...