Digital platforms and the platform economy generate 160K jobs in Argentina

This article was written and published in Spanish and has been translated into English via Google Translate. Click here to read the original article.

Digital platform workers represent 1% of the registered employees of the country on a national scale, as revealed by a new study by CIPPEC, BID Lab and the ILO. This figure encompasses very different realities of products and services, ranging from the person transporting passengers in your vehicle to those who distribute food products through those who put a room in their apartment for temporary rent.

After the conference delivered at the UCA on the "Economies of Platforms and New Labor Modalities", it was emphasized in the investigation of data that provided the advantages that the new modalities have, in terms of the new economy that dethroned the classical economy for its massiveness without limits, in the new field of action of supply and labor demand.

Working in a PPP in the country is a labor and social challenge that, little by little, demolishes all forms of work or social damage that we have known.

The need to generate evidence and recommend public policies to take advantage of opportunities and mitigate the undesired effects of the economy of platforms in the labor market is essential for the renewal of work in our country.

The problem is that, of the 12 main digital platforms that were installed in Argentina, only half of their dependents contributed to the Social Security system. Although, 90% are satisfied with the digital platforms, 9 out of 10 dependents confessed a conformism based on the need to have a job in the face of labor difficulties in our country.

For those who work in this sector, the level of income differs according to the service provided and the platform. Even within the same platform, there are strong differences, since the time spent and the number of jobs accepted vary. However, platform jobs are the main source of income and is crucial to sustain their usual expenses. Some of these platforms also exercise a high level of systemic control and organization vis-à-vis their "collaborators". This results in a clear and evident dependency relationship in the light of the Labor Contract Law that, the legislative dynamic does not come to understand or achieve with the advancement of new technologies. Digital platforms are transforming labor relations: the labor contract and the working relationship of arts. 21 and 22 of the LCT, traditional, reduce the terms and conditions established by the platforms, their organization, direction and supervision in the hands of technology. For its part, the economy of platforms is a kind of tailor, where there are many different cuts, but all with the same purpose: The interaction between massive people without any limits

Platform economies encompass social and labor activities where their main advantages are: reducing costs; challenge traditional market structures; transform labor relations, grant generic volatility and facilitate the interaction of vulnerable groups. The regulatory solutions, in labor, tax and legal security matters should consider the particularities of each platform and the speed of technological change and business models.

As a specialist in the field, he said that what's needed is a technological renovation that is accompanied by new labor laws that guarantee a floor of labor rights and social protection for all people who work.

PPPs are the future of Work

New technologies do not destroy jobs. While any paradigm change involves a quantitative and qualitative cost, we understand that the impact of technology on the labor market will always be for its progress and well-being.

We must not think of the digital transformation as a threat but rather something that has come to complement, to improve and even to create new needs and jobs. Technology makes tasks more bearable - especially those that are more operational - also allows greater efficiency in terms of costs and times. Technology accompanies the growth and even the expansion of companies and businesses.

This article was written and published in Spanish and has been translated into English via Google Translate. Click here to read the original article.

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