Platform workers suffer from poor mental health, study finds

Gig workers who work at places like ridesharing companies or meal delivery services have poorer mental health than people who are otherwise employed, the NOS reports from an Erasmus University Rotterdam study. These workers struggle with a high workload, low pay and little emotional support.

Over 3,600 so-called "platform workers," often self-employed individuals who work for platforms like Thuisbezorgd.nl or Uber, participated in the study. They were found to face physical pressure from their sometimes-risky jobs, as well as mental stress such as loneliness.

"They also experience less freedom and find the work monotonous," said Yuri Scharp, one of the researchers in the study, to the NOS. These gig workers often operate alone and had few interactions with colleagues.

They also faced job insecurity and poor work-life balance, making their jobs even more isolating. "I see my family a lot less than before, because I work double shifts in one day," said 18-year-old Lin de Jonkman, who delivers food via bicycle for Thuisbezorgd.nl. "I find [the work] heavy and feel tired and lonely. My legs and back are exhausted."

These workers are often compensated poorly, including De Jonkman. "The recruitment flyer stated an hourly wage of more than 13 euros, but in practice that is 7.12 euros, excluding a small tip," the 18-year-old told the NOS.

This low pay is sometimes used as an incentive to get platform workers to work extra hours. Some platforms "nudge" workers to get them to take a desired action, Scharp told the NOS. For example: "The moment [Uber] drivers wanted to stop their shift, they received notifications on the app that they were close to reaching their 'target.'"

Several companies that make use of gig workers disagreed that they were represented in the research. Some, like Thuisbezorgd.nl and delivery service Flink, said their delivery staff were employed by the company. Gorillas said it was a retailer, not a platform company.

However, Claartje ter Hoeven, who is a professor of organizational dynamics, said that the nature of employment does not necessarily determine whether a company is part of the platform economy. "It would be nice if these companies would delve more deeply into the various aspects of 'decent work,' such as being able to claim protection, training, participation and safe work in addition to acceptable wages," Ter Hoeven said.

And in a 2021 European Commission bill, several criteria are given for whether a company should actually hire a platform worker. These include whether the platform determines the wage and dress codes, monitors the quality of work via algorithms or other methods or limits workers' freedom in some way.

If two or more of these criteria are met, workers should be hired, according to the bill. FNV director of platform work Amrit Sewgobind told the NOS this bill, which the European Parliament still needs to approve, "makes little progress."

"The worker himself must prove that at least two criteria are met," Sewgobind said. "As long as a platform worker has to do this himself, you will maintain the practice as it is now in the Netherlands."