Gig work is often sold as freedom. Work when you want. be your own boss Make money on your own schedule.
But for many New Yorkers, the job doesn’t really look like that.
Our latest survey Gig workers New York shows something very different across state: jobs that the app itself closely controls—and are shaped by the same economic and racial disparities in the broader labor market.
As part of the Community Service Society’s 2025 Annual Survey of Housing and Economic Security, we surveyed 4,000 adult New Yorkers statewide. One in five people reported making money through a gig platform in the past year. For half of these workers, gig work is their main source of income.
Gig work is not evenly distributed. Workers of color are more likely to rely on it, reflecting chronic disparities in access to stable work. And when employees have fewer options, they have less room to say no.
The lack of choice makes algorithmic control more powerful. About four in five gig workers told us that apps force them to work longer or at specific times through alerts, bonuses and other incentives. Seventy percent said apps control when, where and how much they work.
The app is always watching, always measuring, always adjusting.
This could mean chasing bonuses late into the night or worrying that a bad rating could affect tomorrow’s earnings. Workers respond to signals from a system they cannot see.
This is what gig work practice looks like. And it is structured in a way that deepens inequality.
get paid By shifting pay based on time, location, demand and behavior, employees are constantly pressured to adjust their schedules.
For workers already facing financial insecurity — as are gig workers — this volatility has real consequences This makes it difficult to plan, save or say no. Algorithmic systems extract more labor under pressure.
or take surveillance. Seven out of ten workers say they feel constantly monitored. Their location and behavior is tracked and used to determine who gets work.
Then there are the ratings. Two-thirds of gig workers worry that customer ratings reflect bias based on race, gender or language. Employees know that these ratings affect their pay, access to work, and ability to continue working.
Even access to the work itself can disappear without warning. For workers who depend on this income, even a brief disruption can have immediate consequences.
And yet workers are clear about what they want. More than three-quarters say they would feel safer if the government set rules for how apps treat employees.
New York City has already taken steps It sets minimum wage standards for delivery workers and requires basic protection when workers are removed from the platform. These are important gains, but they’re still not statewide and still don’t address the core issue: how the apps themselves regulate work.
That means setting standards in five key areas — starting with pay. Transparency is needed in how employees’ earnings are calculated. Platforms should disclose how compensation works and provide advance notice before changes take effect.
Second, there must be limits on surveillance and data usage. Platforms continuously track workers and use that data to shape job access. Without the fence, surveillance becomes a tool of control.
Third, the rating and assignment system requires oversight. Left unchecked, they can embed inequality in how work is distributed. Platforms should address assessment and bias and give workers the means to challenge unfair outcomes.
Fourth, workers need basic due process when decisions affect their earning power. Access to work can be reduced—or cut off—through automated systems, often with little explanation. Workers should have the right to know and appeal why decisions are made before they lose their income.
Finally, workers need a voice in the systems that govern their work. Platforms routinely change how pay, assignments and performance are structured, with no input from affected individuals. Ensuring ongoing oversight means creating mechanisms for employee representation.
Gig work is often framed as a tradeoff between flexibility and stability. But that framing misses what the workers are actually describing. The defining feature of today’s gig work is control—practiced through systems that operate out of view and reproduce existing inequalities.
For New York to respond effectively, it needs to control algorithmic systems. Because right now, the app is boss.
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Previously published with inequality.org Creative Commons License
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Photo credit: splash
