Delivering food and other items from online stores is hardly terrible or crushing. That would be working at a slaughterhouse or gathering berries under a scorching sun. Delivery isn’t as cozy as sitting in a nice, warm office, but a lot of students do it because it’s accessible and pays their bills.
I’ve been at the slaughterhouse, and it is indeed one of the most horrific experiences I had. The smell of stale blood, the heat, the constant repetition, and normalized violence. It takes a mental toll.
And working in delivery (which I also did) takes a physical one - especially when you’re a walking courier, which these things are aimed to replace. Back problems, damaged feet, severe calluses, chafing, muscle pain, high risk of all sorts of traumas…the list goes on. Add to that that the rates paid often force these people to overwork way past their healthy physical limits, and you get a recipe for disaster.
Students choose it, because they need an unqualified job that can adapt to their study schedule. Gig work does that. But the rest is pure exploitation, which finds its reflection in health issues, lack of time and fulfillment, and, in case of students - a fall in academic performance.
Delivering food and other items from online stores is hardly terrible or crushing. That would be working at a slaughterhouse or gathering berries under a scorching sun. Delivery isn’t as cozy as sitting in a nice, warm office, but a lot of students do it because it’s accessible and pays their bills.
There’s not one, but plenty of terrible jobs.
I’ve been at the slaughterhouse, and it is indeed one of the most horrific experiences I had. The smell of stale blood, the heat, the constant repetition, and normalized violence. It takes a mental toll.
And working in delivery (which I also did) takes a physical one - especially when you’re a walking courier, which these things are aimed to replace. Back problems, damaged feet, severe calluses, chafing, muscle pain, high risk of all sorts of traumas…the list goes on. Add to that that the rates paid often force these people to overwork way past their healthy physical limits, and you get a recipe for disaster.
Students choose it, because they need an unqualified job that can adapt to their study schedule. Gig work does that. But the rest is pure exploitation, which finds its reflection in health issues, lack of time and fulfillment, and, in case of students - a fall in academic performance.