Work by app: algorithmic management and working conditions of Uber drivers

Abstract

Aiming to contribute to the understanding of how the autonomy versus control relationship materializes in work by app, this article is based on the presentation of the results of research conducted in the city of São Paulo with Uber drivers that aimed to analyze the existing management practices and the conditions under which this work is carried out. We argue that the algorithmic management made possible by adopting app across the labour process is consolidating a new form of management, organization and control of the labour power, increasing workers’ actual subsumption of capital, and radicalizing the forms of work exploitation and domination. Although this form of work is anchored in an apparent freedom, for not being pre-defined the journey and the place for its realization, this radicalization arises from the fact that the platforms’ great capacity to retain and analyze data allows the work of drivers to be controlled in real time, reducing the possibility for workers to organize how their activities will be carried out.

Keywords: Work by app. Algorithmic Management. Uber.