Lately China’s People magazine published a report on how the Chinese food deliverymen have been over-exploited by the algorithms of the food delivery platforms, which went viral over the internet within hours. Who should be held responsible for the miserable working conditions of these couriers? How to solve the problem? Professor Lu Xianghua from Fudan University School of Management shared her point of view in an interview.
She pointed out that the unreasonable delivery time limit is to a great extent caused by the labor surplus and the evaluation mechanism of the platform. The situation faced by the express couriers is not unlike the one that pushed the early assembly line workers to strikes and even suicides. They are both in essence neglection to the employees’ emotional needs.
Delivery platforms connect the merchants, users and express couriers. Algorithms are to improve the efficiency in matching the demand, the supply and the services. However, instead of balancing the interests of all parties, the current algorithm obviously gives priority to the consumer experience and the order volume of the platforms. Therefore, the solution lies not in building a better algorithm, but in improving the efficiency evaluation mechanism so as to take better care of the needs and interests of the deliverymen.
