Gaming the Gig Economy - Psycho-Tricks Make Working for Free as Addictive as Gaming

This absolutely applies to me so here I am jumping in:

The gig economy isn't a bad thing. I work as a computer programmer by contract and there is something you must understand here. They go by how much work you have done, not hours worked.

These companies take HUGE advantage of their salaried employees. Insane advantages. They are not actually required to pay you overtime if you work salary in a high level job. If you are working an an hourly basis, by a strict contract, then even 1 minute over 40 hours in a week qualifies you for an overtime pay rate. That's not the same as when you work salary. It's more relaxed as to when you come in and leave. But at the same time if you put it 50+ hours it goes completely unnoticed.

However, I do agree that gamification of these systems provides a false incentive. This has been going on for years, we've been indoctrinated into it by PS4 achievements and online multiplayer. Not a surprise that big companies catch on. You have to admit, Uber is MUCH fairer than the taxi industry was. These taxi guys got screwed by medallions and other bureaucratic nonsense. It's not all gloom and doom for uber, they do pay their drivers don't they?

a reply to: Attentionwandered

The gig economy isn't a bad thing. ...

...However, I do agree that gamification of these systems provides a false incentive. This has been going on for years, we've been indoctrinated into it by PS4 achievements and online multiplayer. Not a surprise that big companies catch on. ...

Gamification = automated manipulation based on big data and algorithms. VERY sophisticated and hard for ordinary people to recognize and handle in a healthy functional way.

Plus, it's just a transition to full automation and no jobs for humans. So what comes after?