Spain: Platform drivers are only the tip of the iceberg for atypical work conditions

This article was written and published in Spanish and has been translated into English via Google Translate. Click here to read the original article.

Translations, legal advice, accounting, design and software development are some of the services that can be obtained online in pages such as Freelancer or Upwork.

But young people on bicycles or motorcycles with a huge backpack with the logo of Deliveroo, Glovo, Stuart, Ubereats are also a clear part of the work that is obtained through digital platforms.

A report by the University of Hertfordshire on employment in digital platforms in Spain indicates that the most common tasks are those related to office work and small jobs that can be done from the computer, such as entering webs or answer surveys. Tasks of this type are carried out by 11% of the working-age population - that is, four out of ten workers of this type, La Vanguardia reported.

9% of the population between 16 and 65 years of age indicates that it offers professional services such as legal advice or accounting, design, software development and translation, among others.

Another survey, carried out by the think tank Foundation of European Progressive Studies (FEPS), UNI Europa and the Felipe Gonzálezrecoge Foundation, that 7% of the active population distributes food and other products according to the type of transport and the type of delivery.

He emphasizes that there is a tendency among the workers of the platforms to indicate that they carry out more than one service, because this way they can obtain more income from the maximum number of possible sources.

"There is a majority reality in parallel, which we do not normally see. They are qualified workers who look for a source of income in the platforms," says Luz Rodríguez, professor of Labor and Social Security Law at the University of Castilla-La Mancha.

A recent report by the International Labor Organization (ILO) points out that work in the platforms "is usually characterized by remunerations below the minimum wage, unpredictable flows of income and the absence of labor protections that are usually observed in a typical work relationship".

This article was written and published in Spanish and has been translated into English via Google Translate. Click here to read the original article.

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