At first glance, the men wearing sky blue vests and backpacks in the centre of Almaty city look like they’ve gathered for a patriotic rally – they’re wearing Kazakhstan’s official colours, after all.
But after looking a little closer, it’s clear that the shade of blue is actually the same as that used by Wolt, a Finnish food delivery company that is at the centre of a pushback against the gig economy in the Central Asian state.
In mid-May, a crowd of 100 Wolt couriers assembled outside the company’s main office to demand a review of a new policy that slashed their commissions.
