Poor working conditions, little income and no rights. We often hear these negative aspects about platform labour, such as meal delivery. But platform labour also has benefits, especially for migrants, though we hear very little about them. Researcher Roy Huijsmans delved into it.

Scientist Roy Huijsmans noticed something in 2017. Some of his students delivered meals alongside their studies: 'That students work alongside their studies is, of course, not strange. But at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS), most students are from outside the EU. Cycling must already be quite a challenge for them. Let alone maneuvering through a city you don't know very well, with a smartphone and a bike. That drew me into this research: what is the relationship between migration and platform work?'

Roy Huijsmans is an ethnographer. That means he doesn't do research from behind his computer. He goes out and about. So in 2019, Roy started to deliver meals for Deliveroo. He did so from 2019 until Deliveroo stopped delivering in the Netherlands back in 2022.

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Photo: Carl Campbell (Unsplash)

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