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By Georgina Tierney, BlueSky Education, Strategic Communications, Marketing and PR

Uber drivers are often promised sole autonomy over their work, but the billion-dollar corporation are using “opaque algorithmic systems” to manage, monitor, and discipline drivers, according to new research from UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School and the University of Sydney Business School.

The research, which was led by Emma McDaid, Assistant Professor of Accountancy at UCD Smurfit School and co-authored with Clinton Free, Professor of Accountancy at University of Sydney Business School, found that the platform that Uber drivers must use dictates their pay, the work they are assigned, their performance evaluation and when they can work.

The nature of the platform reduces the autonomy that should come with driving for Uber, leading to workers feeling frustrated and undervalued. Due to this, Uber drivers are forming online forums where they can openly discuss their frustrations and come together to discover tricks and solutions to overpower the algorithm.

The research, which was conducted via interviews and a study of the online forums used by drivers, found that the online forums provide a sense of “we-ness.” This happens because drivers tell stories that set the platform apart from the workers, stories that underscore “us” (workers) versus “them” (Uber). This “we-ness” creates solidarity in the workforce so that resistance can develop.

Subsequently, the drivers form different types of resistance strategies, both individual and collective, with storytelling encouraging and justifying these strategies.

Individual acts of resistance include manipulating surge pricing to maximise earnings by working during high-demand periods, as well as hacking the algorithmic control feature around trip destination. Collective action includes pushing for formal action, such as lobbying transport authorities and advocating for strike action. Storytelling is important as it allows drivers to share their knowledge on online forums in a way that brings them together and also amplifies these strategies.

The findings of the paper suggest that worker resistance is evolving. Storytelling is proving to be a key factor in bringing workers together, and online communities offer the opportunity for this to happen on a much wider scale.

The importance of inspections into algorithm governance in the gig economy is also a key finding of this research. There is a serious disconnect between the autonomy that is being promised to workers and the reality of their everyday work, which leads to serious emotional strain. Although the research focuses on Uber, it opens up discussions about digital labour and modern forms of resistance, which no longer rely solely on strikes or union action.

Assistant Professor Emma McDaid, says: “While this study shows that workers are not content with management via algorithmic controls, it also underscores the significance of interpersonal communication and people relationships in a world where algorithmic control threatens these dynamics and often has the effect of isolating and disempowering people. These insights can support the current analysis of labour-management relations in settings where algorithms are used to assess work and output (within the gig-economy and beyond it), but they also provide a basis to question a future where generative AI will likely add to the opacity, and the effects of algorithmic governance.”