The Gig Is Up
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Director: Shannon Walsh
Country: Canada
Duration: 89’
Year: 2021
Language: English, French, Chinese
Category: The Future Beckons
Category Sponsor: Department of Post
Topics: Civil/Human Rights, Technology
The growing phenomenon of the “gig economy” transforming workplaces and lifestyles worldwide.
This film lifts the lid on the realities of the platform / gig economy by sharing the stories of workers around the world who take their instructions from machines.
From food delivery to driving for ride sharing apps, to tagging images for AI, millions of people around the world are finding work task by task online.
Aside from Uber, numerous other companies such as Deliveroo, Lyft, and TaskRabbit have been in the spotlight for their practices, which lack a certain human touch.
By talking to various workers, the film reveals the hidden costs of our new digital economy which is worth over 5 trillion US Dollars globally and which shows no sign of slowing down.
It is a timely look at the precarious economic circumstances the gig economy invites, where work is shifted to fleeting contracts and remote workplaces, often forcing people to live pay-check to pay-check, while providing new conveniences to others.
[the film] is a timely exposé of the dark-side and under-reported risks that threaten the hard-won labour rights fought for over the last century
Ana Vicente, Dogwoof.