The work of food couriers in Rio de Janeiro and digital labour platforms: the paths of precarisation

This article documents the working conditions of couriers in Rio de Janeiro, paying attention to their trajectories and individual and collective experiences. It asks three questions: What is the profile of these workers? What are the conditions of work and how have historic patterns of precarity taken on new features with technological advances? How do workers’ experiences of digital labour platforms inform their aspirations and expectations? Based on a survey of 500 couriers and 100 semi-structured interviews in the second half of 2021, I argue that structural precariousness has gained a new impulse with the platformisation of deliveries. The article identifies three groups of food couriers, based on their experiences and expectations. The first includes those who worked as couriers before the existence of delivery apps. The second group refers to those who were in courier services as a temporary alternative to unemployment, and who generally aspired to return to their former activities. The third represents those whose first job was in platformised deliveries, who seem to see an extremely precarious job as normal. The article points to continuities and ruptures in the activity of couriers in Rio de Janeiro since the arrival of digital platforms. This article also aims to explore the connections between race, gender and precarisation in delivery activity. The results indicate that historical patterns of tensions related to race and gender that shape the local labour market are reflected in the algorithmic management of platform-based deliveries, adding nuances to the precariousness of activity.