It was going to be the new great hope.
The sharing economy was supposed to help people find much needed work, get out of poverty and in turn boost economic growth. It has been seen as the saviour to many of our economic woes.
The concept is simple. In the sharing economy communities share resources together for everyone’s gain. At the local level it can mean bike co-ops and urban farms, while at a larger scale it has led to the development of applications such as Uber, AirBNB and TaskRabbit. These apps capitalise on technological advancements to allow individuals to share goods and services — from renting a room for someone on holiday to providing a carpool to someone on their commute. It is these apps that have been heralded as the great hope for our economic woes.
It is not the first time we’ve heard about the way technology can solve our economic problems. In 1930, John Maynard Keynes made the bold prediction that by 2030 working weeks would be reduced to 15 hours. Technological advancement, he argued, would allow us to keep high prosperity levels without having to work long weeks. Jobs and wealth would be shared around, ensuring everyone has a secure and stable footing.
It was the same thing we heard about computers. The rise of computers and the internet would make work much more efficient, giving us more spare time to enjoy our lives outside the office.Time and time again we have been told that technology will be the saviour of the working class. Simply let this advancement run wild and we will all reap the benefits.
Stories that have time and time again been false. While for over a century people have turned towards these solutions, things seem to be getting worse. Australians are working longer hours in jobs that are significantly more insecure. We are more stressed and facing serious health impacts from this type of working life. And that’s the people who can get jobs. Over two million Australians are still unemployed or underemployed, struggling to find enough to make a living. The prospect of a 15 hour work week and prosperity shared by all seems more distant than ever before.
While the sharing economy is a great idea, it has unfortunately become part of this trend. Locally, the sharing economy can bring communities together, reduce environmental impact and create local economic security. Yet, like many of our technological advancements the idea has been coopted by larger corporations. Workers on the larger apps are finding themselves working below minimum wage, facing insecure work (with the potential of losing jobs at any minute) and having no safety net to back them up (companies who run the applications have few obligations to look after the employees). Employees are forced to pay for their own equipment and insurance and are unable to unionise.
We can see this best potentially with the example of the application TaskRabbit. TaskRabbit was initially designed as a bartering-type system, where consumers could pay individuals to complete particular tasks for them. Tasks could range from doing someone’s washing to constructing their IKEA furniture. The app however recently changed its parameters. It made it harder for consumers and workers to discuss the job before hand and importantly for workers to be able to negotiate with consumers over the price for a job (which was conducted through a bidding system). A new system that was designed to be more “efficient” simply became a tool to take away employee bargaining power. In doing so, employees who were making a stable income lost significant work, with equivalent drops in income and security.
The sharing economy has lost its edge as a liberator, instead perpetuating an economy that’s benefiting corporations over employees. It’s not that this is a bad idea. A sharing economy is an excellent idea. It is just that "sharing" has been appropriated to strip it of any real meaning. It has become another part of a system of corporations shifting full-time employees to casual workers, independent contractors, freelancers and consultants. It has become part of our insecure working culture.
It is not like we should be surprised. The stories of the great technological hopes have always ended up this way. The technology Maynard Keynes hoped would create the 15 hour work week has simply been used to replace workers with machines. Those who have lost jobs have then found there are fewer to go around. The computer and the Internet has shifted work into our everyday lives, with email and social media meaning we can no longer leave it in the office. They have made us 24-hour employees. Technology is just a tool. In our society where work is focused on productivity, efficiency and profits for corporations it is no wonder this tool is being used for corporate ends.
The reality is that the stories of technological advancements providing us with an economic saviour are just that. Stories. Technology has provided us countless benefits, but built in a system designed for corporate need that is always who it will be designed to benefit. The cooption of the sharing economy shows us we cannot rely on it to save our future.
Simon Copland is a freelance writer and climate campaigner. He is a regular columnist for the Sydney Star Observer and blogs at The Moonbat.
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