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Transition to digital labour platforms in the beauty industry in India

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Colectic
  • Through these platforms you can request home services such as manicure.
    Through these platforms you can request home services such as manicure. . Source: freestocks.org (Pexels).

Platforms give women workers greater autonomy, better control over their time and increased wages, even if this is linked to their productivity. They also feel more valued when they visit their customers’ houses and don’t need to negotiate their prices.

The initiative of Fundació Mobile World Capital Digital Future Society has published the report 'Gender practices on digital platforms: Beauty platform workers and their customers in India' at an event in collaboration with Casa Àsia.

Researcher Olivia Blanchard from the Digital Future Society explained that the topic chosen was based on the wish to diversity research beyond the Global North and the male workforce and to talk directly with female workers: “It’s important to see what is going on in other parts of the world because it could happen here anytime”.

India’s ambassador to Spain, Sanjay Verma, highlighted the rapid growth of the market in the country, which hosts two of the largest digital labour platforms in Asia, Urban Company and Yes Madam, both of which provide beauty and domestic services, which were the main focus of the report.

The organisation’s director, Cristina Colom, focused on the importance of studying digitalization and how new professional profiles adapt to this reality.

The research was conducted together with the Bangalore International Institute of Information Technology based on interviews with 45 workers and 30 customers in Bangalore and the North Capital Region (NCR). The goal is to learn about the workers’ conditions and their relationship with platforms, their prior situation and the effects of the pandemic.

Why are they shifting to platforms?

Workers have shifted to online platforms by word of mouth. Due to the unstable nature of the offline beauty industry and conflicts with their superiors, they are moving to online platforms with the promise of a higher salary that could be increased based on their performance.

Are their conditions improving?

Workers have increased their revenues working on these platforms although their saving capacity depends on each family situation. They have a greater control over their shifts and value the flexibility, which means shorter workdays and better adaptability to domestic work and the upbringing of children.

Conclusions

Platforms give women workers greater autonomy, better control over their time and increased wages, even if this is linked to their productivity. They also feel more valued when they visit their customers’ houses and don’t need to negotiate their prices.

Despite this, platforms control their activity since they are forced to buy the company’s products, wear a uniform and undergo training before starting to work, they are asked for a justification when they don’t accept a service and they follow up on processes, even asking for photographs to check safety measures.

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