Uchiyama, Yosuke and Md Akhir, Md Nasrudin and Wang, Yuanzhu and Lim, Beatrice and Pazim, Khairul Hanim (2022) Working conditions of online food delivery gig workers from a consumer perspective in china: A lesson for Malaysia. Contemporary Chinese Political Economy and Strategic Relations, 8 (2). 324 -365. ISSN 24109681,
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
Whilst the expansion of the gig work market has enabled flexible task-based work that is not bound by employment contracts with firms, it has also given rise to various concerns about the working conditions of gig labours. In China, the general preference for eating out and the convenience of this service has led to a growing need for online food delivery (OFD) services and rising demand for delivery riders. At the same time, the working conditions of the riders are strictly controlled by the oligopoly platforms, which makes their position very weak. However, there is minimal research on how Chinese users understand this situation, generating colossal demand. This study uses primary data collected through in-depth interviews to examine Meituan online food delivery users' understanding of delivery riders' working conditions and their potential contribution to empowering riders. Through the thematic analysis, the collected data identified five main themes: new category job location between chance and risk, ultimate 0 2 0 productivity labour, fragile workers' balance of power, and mutual assistance difficulties with 16 sub-categories. Although OFD users had a profound and insightful understanding of riders' working conditions, their potential contribution to improving working conditions was not highly promising. As platforms continue to be confronted by oligopolies and government regulators, users have a pivotal role as a mitigating factor for the sustainability of China's on-demand gig economy sector. Lastly, based on the China experience, this article offers lessons to OFD industries in Malaysia. © 2022 Institute of China and Asia-Pacific Studies - National Sun Yat-sen University. All rights reserved.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Funders: | Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia [Grant No: FP026-2021, FRGS/1/2021/SS0/UM/02/12] |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | China; Gig economy; Malaysia; Meituan; Online food delivery (OFD); Working condition |
| Subjects: | H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) |
| Divisions: | Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic & International) Office > Asia-Europe Institute |
| Depositing User: | Ms. Juhaida Abd Rahim |
| Date Deposited: | 28 Nov 2023 04:23 |
| Last Modified: | 28 Nov 2023 04:23 |
| URI: | http://eprints.um.edu.my/id/eprint/44117 |
Actions (login required)
 |
View Item |
