The Invisible Hand of Algorithmic Management. An empirical research on platform food delivery work

• In Event: 30606 - Exploring the Impacts of Platform Work

Abstract

Software has changed the relationship between companies, managers and workers.
Algorithmic management (AM) represents the most advanced stage in «technical control»1: the use of automated monitoring and decision-making systems in Human Resource Management (HRM)2.

This article discusses AM in the Italian context of platform food delivery work starting from information collected through extensive empirical research. The aim of the research is to understand whether the AM complies with contractual provisions, or whether it acts as an invisible hand to organize workers differently from what is foreseen in the contracts.

The study focuses on Glovo - a leading multinational company in the sector - and looks at the dimensions of time and place of work for three reasons: (1) they are significant for employment law; (2) they are central to delivery services; (3) they have been little explored by studies on AM.

We hypothesize that the platforms could gain a competitive advantage from recognizing the contractual freedom to self-determine the time and place of work to their riders3-4, but that they also need to conform the behavior of the couriers along the dimensions considered.

To conduct our research, we tried to implement a pragmatic and interdisciplinary approach: the research combines, on the one hand, the analysis of the Italian collective agreement (2020) and individual employment contracts (2019, 2020, 2021) and, on the other, a sociological declination of the black box test for study the AM5.

The legal analysis made it possible to reconstruct formal forecasts regarding time and place of work. Moreover, social research techniques were used to reconstruct the management of these dimensions through technology. The field research was carried out in Catania (Sicily, Italy), in the period June-October 2021. The techniques used are semi-structured interview (N=56), a focus group (N=7 ), and the analysis of the app. interfaces installed on the riders' smartphones.

Research shows that algorithmic management operates like an invisible hand, organizing riders' activities in a radically different way than what is provided for in employment contracts.

Author

• Luigi Di Cataldo, University of Milan