Advances in Economics, Management and Political Sciences
- The Open Access Proceedings Series for Conferences
Series Vol. 3 , 21 March 2023
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
When the Chinese economy stopped amid the coronavirus pandemic, more than 6 million food delivery workers helped to distribute medicine, daily supplies, and meals becoming the crucial link between individual households and society. In light of the positive media attention and the heightened importance of food delivery workers, the researc her wondered if their living standards have actually been improved during COVID-19. Surveying 227 workers and interviewing 11 workers, the author conducted research on the impact of the pandemic on their compensation, ratings, social status and customer respect. After analyzing both the interview and survey data. This study found that although workers experienced a moderate improvement in their ratings, social status and customer respect, they also suffered a drastic income loss during the pandemic. Furthermore, this research found that the reasons behind those changes were mainly temporary and unique features of the pandemic. As the pandemic failed to make lasting systemic improvements in Chinese food delivery workers’ living standards, further research is needed to address their daily challenges.
Covid-19, Gig Workers, Media Impact on Public Perception, Sharing Economy, Chinese Food Delivery Industry
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The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.
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