Delivering in the Lagoon. Critical Reflections on the Flexibility of Platformised Food Delivery in Venice

This contribution aims to analyse the constant assembling of working and non-working times by platform-mediated food delivery workers and the contradictory outcomes of the algorithmic managerial model of work. This service (but more in general the platform economy) is framed as a time–space-energy field: is an energy-intensive because of mechanism such as rating, ranking and is based (mostly) on the fast-paced piecework; the space variable is central, as the urban contextual specificities (overcrowded streets, geo-localisation failure, public transportation issues, etc.), channel the work performance and increase the couriers’ energy expenditure; the time variable is longitudinal, as couriers must be constantly on-time (and online) to ensure the best orders assignment. Regarding migrant labour, it is also necessary to consider another temporality, that is the residence permit, which for example determines how much time migrants can work. Against this background, the “binding-flexibility” is defined as follows: the flexibility that formally gives to the workers the possibility to decide when and how much work, but, according to the time–space-energy dynamic, the inherent logic of digital platforms’ algorithm channels their possibilities of choice regarding the organisation of working and non-working times. In order to investigate this topic, we carried out qualitative-ethnographic research in the historic centre of Venice between January and September 2022, using the following methods: direct observation and participant observation, shadowing, semi-structured interviews and informal conversations with research participants. The fieldwork highlights features and tendencies of the food delivery sector in Venice and to sketch a picture of the migrant couriers, in particular their living and working conditions.