The perks of “gig work” in the online food delivery sector are clear – pick up work whenever suits you, go at your own pace and never lack opportunities. Yet there is a darker side to online catering platforms, which stand accused of exploiting workers – a charge that has been amplified since the COVID-19 pandemic. As argued by Dr Pearl Lin and Mr Wilson Au of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and co-authors, simply raising a red flag is not enough. Hence, China’s government resolved in 2021 to protect workers through regulating the marketplace and ensuring labour welfare. Their study investigated the impacts of this all-too-recent system, and their rich insights will help online catering platforms strike a balance between cost-effectiveness and respect for gig workers and human rights in the post-pandemic era.
