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打破你工作安全感的“零工經濟”是什麼？

皮特·羅伯森，愛丁堡龍比亞大學（Edinburgh Napier University）（Pete Robertson）

2017年 10月 4日

http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20170918-how-the-gig-economy-creates-job-insecurity

據說，生活在北美洲嚴寒地區的因紐特人（Inuit）有50個單詞來描述雪，這可能純屬虛構，但卻巧妙地說明了一個不言而喻的道理：對於我們在日常生活中頻繁碰到的現象，我們有更多、更豐富、更細緻入微的詞語來表述。

20世紀常見的工作都是正式的全職工作，而且都很長久。最近幾年，與其他類型的工作有關的詞彙越來越多。現在的工作可以是臨時的、定期的、季節性的、以項目為基礎的、兼職的、簽訂零時合同的、非正式的、代理的、自由職業的、週邊的、偶然的、外部的、非典型的、以平臺為基礎的、外包的、分包的、非正式的、未申報的、無保障的、邊緣的或不穩定的。

The claim that the Inuit have 50 words for snow may be apocryphal, but it neatly illustrates the truism that our vocabulary becomes more extensive and nuanced for phenomena we encounter frequently.

The bog-standard job of the 20th Century was formal, full-time and permanent. Recently the lexicon for other kinds of jobs has expanded. Work can be temporary, fixed-term, seasonal, project-based, part-time, on a zero-hours contract, casual, agency, freelance, peripheral, contingent, external, non-standard, atypical, platform-based, outsourced, sub-contracted, informal, undeclared, insecure, marginal or precarious.

當年的"個體戶"現在都幹起了"Uber-job"——這個詞模仿了"McJob"（低薪、低品質的工作）的構詞法，專門描述通過零工經濟（gig economy）給自己打工的人所從事的工作。這種非典型工作已經不再那麼不合常規。沒有保障的工作已經成為一個重要現象。

在就業領域，對未來的預測向來都很可靠，原因在於趨勢已經明朗了一段時間，而沒有保障的工作也已經發展到一定程度，甚至成為了許多學者的研究物件。20世紀90年代，管理大師查理斯·漢迪（Charles Handy）提到未來的組織將會採用三葉草模式，總共使用三種人力資源：全職雇員、兼職人員和外包工人。

“Self-entrepreneurs” now do “Uber-jobs” – a term that arose (mimicking the earlier pejorative term “McJobs” for low pay/quality work) to describe the use of workers who are technically self-employed in the gig economy. The atypical job is no longer quite so atypical. Insecure work has become an important phenomenon.

Employment is a field where predictions of the future have been reliable, because the trends have been clear for some time now that growth in insecure employment has reached a point to become a subject of study. In the 1990s, management guru Charles Handy talked about the organisation of the future having a clover leaf design, with three kinds of human resource: full-time employees, casual staff and outsourced workers.

這與經濟學家維爾·胡頓（Will Hutton）的悲觀預測不謀而合。他預計，今後的社會將有30%的弱勢群體和邊緣人士，30%過著沒有保障的生活，還有40%屬於特權階級。

This threefold division was echoed in economist Will Hutton’s darker prediction of a society in which 30% of people were disadvantaged and marginalised, 30% led insecure lives and 40% were privileged.

21世紀就業願景

之前就有一種說法：21世紀初的職業特點是"無邊界"（在不同專案之間切換，而不局限在一家組織）、"組合化"（同時為多個雇主從事多項工作）和"多變性"（懂得轉型的勞動者按照要求改變自己）

現在開始有職場專家表示，未來的勞動者需要保持極高的靈活性。跟終身職業說再見。今後必須要學會職業管理技巧，以便敏捷地適應新型勞動力市場的基調。這種所謂的明智做法也會產生問題，主要源自四個原因：

Visions of 21st-Century careers

Careers at the start of the 21st Century, we were told, would become “boundaryless” (hopping from project to project, not limited to one organisation), “portfolio” (multiple parallel jobs with multiple employers), and “protean” (with shapeshifting workers reinventing themselves as required).

Careers experts began to argue that the workers of the future needed to be ultra-flexible. Say goodbye to the job for life. Learn career management skills to dance nimbly to the tune of the new labour market. But this prescribed wisdom is problematic for four reasons.

第一，職業不安全感始終存在，它曾經是歷史的常態。建築行業一直都以項目為基礎，而且像農業一樣存在季節性；海員歷來都是被雇來參加遠航的；娛樂行業本來就是"零工經濟"。按照慣例，這些行業都會在工作完成後解雇員工。

新出現的現象是沒有保障的工作延伸到原本很少存在這種現象的行業。之所以會有這種現象，一方面是因為新科技的湧現，另一方面則是因為企業廣泛使用了限制勞動者權益的合同。

First, job insecurity is has always existed; it was once the historical norm. The construction industry has always been project-based and seasonal like agriculture; seafarers were traditionally hired for a voyage. The entertainment industry was literally the “gig economy”. These are among the industries that routinely discarded workers when the job was done.

What is new is the extension of insecure work into industries where it was not previously common. This has been facilitated by new technology and the widespread use of contractual arrangements that seek to limit workers’ rights.

第二，無邊界、組合化、多變性的職業，引發了人們對美麗新世界的暢想。這是給那些擁有高附加值的專業人士準備的。這樣的世界很適合那些在經濟上有足夠的自信，不必非要通過定期收入來構建安全網的人。單車速遞員、計程車司機或四處找活兒的護工顯然並不熱衷於這種模式，那些在收入上朝不保夕的人同樣如此。

Second, the vision of a brave new world of portfolio, boundaryless, and protean careers was intended for professionals who could sell high-value parcels of work. It suits those with enough economic confidence to fly without the safety net of a regular income. These ideas were not dreamed up for the bicycle courier, the taxi driver or the peripatetic care worker, and certainly not for those trapped in a low-pay, no-pay cycle.

第三，職業管理在修辭上並沒有注意到"是"和"應該"之間的差異。非典型工作模式的增長並不表明勞動者應該肩負一份道德責任，也不表示他們應該通過把自己塑造成這種期望的模式來促進這種發展。尤其是當有些雇主不想承擔病假工資、休假工資和出差費用時。

人力資源上的靈活性讓雇主可以迅速擴大或縮減業務規模，並將這一過程中的成本降到最低。這不僅僅是為了壓低工資，還是為了幫助雇主降低經濟風險，同時加大勞動者承擔的風險。全球化競爭所帶來的挑戰或許不可避免，但卻不能無條件地遵守雇主制定的財富共用和風險共擔制度。

Third, the career management rhetoric lost sight of the distinction between is and should. Growth in atypical working patterns does not imply a moral imperative that workers should facilitate this development by shaping themselves into the desired mould. Particularly where some employers might be seeking to offload responsibility for sick pay, holiday pay, and travel between jobs.

Flexibility in human resources allows employers to scale operations up and down rapidly, and with minimal cost. This is not just about keeping wage bills down, but also about employers reducing levels of economic risk, while workers increase their share of risk bearing. The challenge of global competition may be inevitable, but an unquestioning compliance with employer regimes for sharing wealth and risk is not.

最後，新技術促進了工作任務的快速分配。與此同時，它可以將工作分解為離散的微任務，實現勞動力的遠端買賣。這樣做可能會產生副作用，導致員工與主管之間的關係失去人情味，還會消除員工與同事之間的社交互動。孤立的生活方式和孤立的任務令人們更加難以形成強烈的社會認同感。

Finally, new technology facilitates rapid allocation of work tasks. At the same time it can dismantle jobs into discrete micro-tasks for which labour can be bought and sold remotely. In doing so it may have the side effect of de-personalising the relationship between worker and supervisor and removing workers from social interaction with their fellow staff. A lifestyle of isolated and isolating tasks make it harder to forge a strong sense of social identity.

英國的不安全感

《泰勒現代工作實踐評估》（Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices）旨在表明英國政府已經清醒過來，看清了事情的本質。它提倡為勞動者引入新的"從屬承包人"（dependent contractor）的身份。但在大多數情況下，它提出的建議都缺乏魄力。最近，作為零工經濟領域最顯著的代表，Uber和Deliveroo都遭到了議員們的批評。但到目前為止，主要還是勞動法層面的糾紛，政府並未介入。

Insecurity in the UK

The Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices is intended to signal that the UK government has woken up and smelled the coffee. It advocates the introduction of a new “dependent contractor” status for workers, but for the most part its recommendations are timid. Recently, the gig economy’s biggest fish, Uber and Deliveroo, were taken to task by MPs. But so far it has been in employment law disputes, and not in Whitehall, that things have moved on.

沒有保障的員工可能不得不適應這種現狀。但他們也可以抵抗，儘管這並不容易。他們的經濟條件或許不夠好，可能付不起工會的會員費。更何況，如果引發麻煩，會導致他們的工作報酬減少，並且他們的工會資質也可能受到限制。儘管如此，在早期那些可能形成長期社會矛盾的小規模衝突中，工會還是取得了初步成功。

最新的例子是麥當勞，該公司有兩家快餐廳的員工剛剛採取了不同尋常的舉措，要求更好的薪酬、更有保障的合同，以及工會的認可。

Insecure workers may have to adapt. But they can resist too, although it is not easy. They are not well placed to afford trades union membership/, being troublesome can lead to reduced work offers, and their identification with a trade may be limited. Nonetheless in the early skirmishes of what is likely to be a long-running social conflict it is the unions that have emerged with initial success.

The latest example is McDonald’s, where staff at two fast food outlets have just taken the unusual step of striking to demand better pay, more secure contracts and union recognition.

這不僅僅是勞動者權益問題。當人們的長期生活方式被沒有保障的工作困擾之後，便會與其他問題相互作用。隨著住房成本高企，人們不得不變成"啃老族"。有理由相信，不穩定的工作模式有害健康。這些傷害不成比例地落到了那些最不富裕的社會經濟群體頭上。

至於我們對年輕人的職業教育方式，勸告他們保持靈活性只能帶來一定程度的益處。我們需要讓未來的勞動者能夠共同促進和維護他們自身的利益，還要給他們提供一個公平的機會來糾正當代勞動力市場權力不均衡的現狀。

This is not just an issue of workers’ rights. When people become locked into long-term lifestyles of insecure work, it interacts with other issues. With the high cost of housing, it traps individuals in a life cycle limbo of dependency on parents. There are reasons to believe that poor quality jobs with insecure work patterns have harmful effects on health. These detriments fall disproportionately on the those in the least prosperous socio-economic groups.

As for the way we educate young people about careers, exhortations to flexibility are good only up to a point. We need to equip workers of the future to collaborate to promote and safeguard their interests, and give them a fair chance to redress the power imbalance in contemporary labour markets.