How “economical delivery” creates a wave of low-paid jobs

On a good day, Andre Likatovich can ride an 4,2 km bike in 9 minutes, because when you are trying to make money, every minute counts on the delivery.

Likatovich makes about 20 stops along the route, covering up to 80 miles a day, diving into the crowded streets of New Orleans to deliver food from most of the city's eateries. He is 41 years old, lean and muscular.

“It's like training for a marathon,” he says. “If you want to make a living, you need to go fast.”

Likatovic is part of lean delivery, a workforce that is growing so fast that government statistics can't seem to keep up.

The idea that virtually the entire retail world is available to consumers at home with a few keystrokes of smartphones has led to the emergence of an army of people and new delivery options.

Restaurants have also decided to keep up with the times. So in july Pizza Hut announced the recruitment of 14 000 drivers for delivery.

Фото: Depositphotos

Food delivery application Doordash started four years ago with several drivers in the state. Now there are 100 thousands in the company.

Another delivery company Postmates, opened in 2011 with a staff of several hundred people, and now has more than 65 thousands of couriers, according to Russell Cook, senior vice president Postmates.

“This is the new age of delivery,” says Peter Backman, an analyst horizons, a food market research company. “This is how people live their lives these days. “They’re always on their phones, waiting for goods to be delivered, but they won’t go get them themselves.”

It's not just urban workers. Small cities across America have benefited from shipping applications. Tony Xu, CEO and Co-Founder Doordash, says the restaurant delivery application is most successful in small towns where delivery was once limited.

Фото: Depositphotos

Food delivery remains the hottest item, but some of the same companies deliver other products: pet food, dry cleaning and even alcohol.

According to Hudson Rile, senior vice president of the National Restaurant Association, mobile delivery and carrying out accounted for 60% of all traffic in restaurants in 2016.

Business depends on such couriers as Likatovich, who works from 40 to 50 hours 7 days a week. According to him, it is difficult for him to calculate his salary accurately, on average he earns about $ 50 every 3 hour. Despite the seemingly attractive amount, it is quite a difficult way to make a living.

Bike accidents, potholes, clients not where they say they are and unpredictable weather are common professional challenges for Likatovic. And if he is sick, he physically cannot work.

The demand for courier services varies from city to city. In New York, 26-year-old Chris White began shipping goods on a 5 bike years ago. Then there were few couriers, so the demand was high. For the 2 of the day, he received $ 400. But now, when there are more and more people like him, he earns $ 150 over the weekend, struggling to stay afloat. Sometimes he goes on tricks to deliver goods faster: he is driving around traffic lights, driving along a one-way street.

Despite all the shortcomings, Likatovich says that he has some unique advantages, including the ability to simply turn off his phone when he needs free time.

“This is the freedom that every person carries,” he says. “If I’m having a bad day, I can just go home.”

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