Riders, drivers and courier boys finally see a stable future

Contributing writer | Lian Qingchuan

The first decade of the 21st century should have created the most new models and terms in the entire Internet era. period. Long tail theory, sharing economy, crowdsourcing, group buying... and these have been implemented one by one in the subsequent rapid development of the Internet.

Some models, as the years go by, become short-lived brilliance, such as *** enjoying bicycles and *** enjoying offices; some models change doors and quietly Some innovations have become the basic configuration of the Internet, such as group buying; while some innovations have been controversial, but have gradually become the mainstream structure of the Internet, such as food delivery and online ride-hailing.

In 2004, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman published the book "The World is Flat". Although he did not put forward a theory in the book, he keenly felt that the original hierarchical structure of the company seemed to have been challenged by the Internet as a whole.

It is not that the efficiency of the hierarchical management system has been reduced: it is that many employees are no longer in the company, or they are not simply permanent employees of a company.

They have actually become workers similar to freelancers.

Friedman’s example is particularly interesting. He said that in the traditional era, housewives often had nothing to do and were extremely out of touch with society, which caused many tragedies for themselves and their marriages.

But today, many American housewives have escaped from this dilemma: they are both housewives and career women.

How to do it? For example, she is a temporary air ticket booker. When she is busy with housework, she can turn off her mobile phone; but when she is free, she can help the airline and handle various flight booking information.

This is crowdsourcing.

Of course, this situation is no longer unfamiliar to us today.

Riders on Meituan and Ele.me delivery platforms, drivers on Didi and Caocao, express delivery on SF Express, merchants on Pinduoduo and Taobao, Dou Internet celebrities on music, Kuaishou, designers and writers in the same city, and Zhubajie...

Strictly speaking, they do not have a direct employment relationship with the platform, but rely on Accept orders on multiple platforms and find your own job opportunities.

They are born on a platform-by-platform basis. Many people register for multiple platforms at the same time, just to ensure more opportunities to receive orders, so as to maximize benefits.

Courier (Picture/Tu Chong Creative)

For this group of people, the official has a more serious name: flexible employment personnel.

How big is this group? Statistics from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security in July were 200 million. The 2021 population statistics, the population aged 15-59, is 890 million.

Only a very small number of people are used to being tied down, especially today when there are more employment options.

In the traditional era, the reason why most people had to be forced to rely on a certain organization was because employment opportunities in society were relatively scarce, and the cost of changing jobs was extremely high. Extremely high.

Today, the Internet has provided abundant opportunities for flexible employment. If you have expertise or hobbies in a certain profession, you can switch between several similar platforms in the same field, or even register on several platforms at the same time; if you don’t find a job that you like, And just in the process of searching, you can even shuttle between different platforms to find your own opportunities.

One result of this employment method is that it subverts the traditional labor-employment relationship and enters a platform-cooperation model.

This is of course a relief for both parties.

Online ride-hailing driver (picture/Tu Chong Creative)

Many Internet companies will face a problem: the company needs to grow To grow, you must hire more employees, but many employees are actually unwilling to rely solely on one company.

Especially for those working in new Internet businesses, such as online ride-hailing drivers, food delivery personnel, and courier personnel, simply forming a fixed labor relationship with one company means losing more. Money making opportunities.

The key lies in whether employees can find a job that suits their interests and pursuits. Needless to say, there are many difficulties in staying in a fixed company organization. Risks and challenges of verbal expression: Are you in tune with your managers? Do you get along well with your colleagues in the company? Can the company pay wages in full and on time? Are the management style and culture suitable for you? Will you be working overtime or traveling too much?

Sometimes, if both parties do not have many choices, they can only "stay together" reluctantly.

Why do employees of a company value social security and five insurances and one housing fund so much? Because that's the guarantee. Why sign a labor contract? Because that's protection. What should I do if I get a work injury? Who provides guaranteed wages during pregnancy? Can people feel at ease when there is no guarantee of old-age care?

This is an issue that cannot be ignored.

Previously, there were only two ways to define labor relations in China: either you were an employee of the company, signed a labor contract, and enjoyed legal labor protection; or you became a flexible employee and You can control your work relatively freely, but if an accident occurs, you have to bear it yourself (such as paying social security and enjoying corresponding labor security according to the standards for flexible employment personnel).

This is the dichotomy of labor relations: employees, or partners in civil relations.

The existence of market competition makes no company dare to relax its self-improvement.

For example, in the food delivery industry, if a complaint is not handled carefully, it will lead to the loss of goodwill and users. Therefore, platform companies have to tread on thin ice without fear.

Compliance is the sword of Damocles for all platform companies, hanging over the head of every platform company.

Takeaways on the street (Photo/Tu Chong Creative)

This is not just China’s own problem.

In the United States, a judge upheld the fact that Uber drivers were Uber employees and required Uber to pay equal labor remuneration to employees; while in Spain, the delivery platform Deliveroo was It was ordered to fulfill all employment responsibilities, and it simply announced its withdrawal from the Spanish market, leaving 2,500 employees with nowhere to go.

Although the Internet economy is an innovation, it does not spring out of the cracks in the rocks. It is nothing more than a technological product produced in response to market demand. In fact, any kind of corporate behavior requires exactly the government's regulation of the market.

Adjust the relationship between flexible employment personnel and the platform, form appropriate rights and obligations between each other, ensure that the platform provides protection for flexible employment personnel, and promote the adaptation and compliance of flexible employment personnel The platform model curbs irrational and endless fighting among similar platforms. These are originally the functions of norms.

Fortunately, in July, eight departments including the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Transport jointly issued the "On Maintaining New Employment Forms" "Guiding Opinions on Labor Security Rights and Interests of Workers", which is actually the transition from a two-part approach to labor security to a three-part approach.

The so-called three-part rule means that from the original relationship of employment or cooperation, a layer of relationship is added, that is, "it does not fully meet the circumstances of establishing a labor relationship but it The relationship between the enterprise and the labor management of workers. The solution lies in "guiding enterprises and workers to enter into written agreements to reasonably determine the rights and obligations of enterprises and workers."

Relevant national departments have issued documents on safeguarding the labor security rights and interests of workers in new forms of employment (Photo/Network)

This It is a major measure taken in accordance with the Labor Law and a targeted policy to deal with new employment forms such as the Internet platform economy.

In platform companies that often employ hundreds of thousands or millions of workers, whether labor relations are compliant has always been an important issue.

Delivery riders walking on the street (Photo/Visual China)

Statistics show that as of October 2020, Meituan has 4.7 million riders; as of 2021, the first During the quarter, Didi Chuxing had 15 million annual active drivers.

If these riders and drivers are considered employees of the company, then all personnel costs will be borne by the company. Even with the revenue scale of Meituan and Didi, I am afraid that they will not support it. It won't be long.

However, with this relatively flexible handling method as mentioned in the document, the platform provides necessary protections to riders, including basic protections such as accidents and injuries, and social security such as social security and pensions. , achieving a certain degree of sharing between the state and individuals may gradually solve the problem.

Naturally, there is no clear implementation plan for this document yet. Perhaps there will be clear opinions on the specific contract signing methods and rights and obligations of the platform later.

But this is obviously an important step. Compliance issues that were originally caused by vague areas in regulations can now be rationalized and solved, which will help platforms and workers establish a more stable and harmonious labor relationship.

As for the tightness of the competition system between platforms and the unlimited development of rider potential, such vicious competition will also be corrected after the introduction and implementation of this opinion.

This change is naturally a response to an Internet phenomenon that has affected society, employment and people's livelihood. To a certain extent, this is also a forward-looking arrangement for platform companies such as Meituan and Ele.me.

With the continuous iteration of the Internet economy, new employment forms are constantly emerging. Ten years ago, no one knew that takeout would be so popular; five years ago, no one knew that short videos would be so popular.

One of the major advantages of platform enterprises lies in taking advantage of the situation and constantly and creatively developing new business models, so as to continuously attract new users and workers to join. The entire market boomed.

From this perspective, the new definition of labor relations has ushered in a full-scale outbreak when the platform is loosened.

Young people’s imagination is always unlimited. What new professions will emerge?

Anyway, just go and watch. "Freedom" is originally used for creation.