Immigrants often find themselves having to take work for which they are overqualified. That’s partly why so many work for labour platforms such as Uber or food delivery services like DoorDash or Deliveroo as a stepping-stone: it gives them an income without too much commitment while they settle into a new home country.
Immigrants also often find themselves meeting the demand for healthcare workers in wealthy countries: there’s a documented transnational transport of care work from the Global South to the Global North.
No surprises, then, that there is a proliferation of platforms bringing together care workers looking for work with people who need caring for. But caring for someone involves greater intimacy than delivering groceries to a stranger – while care work platforms bring the same problems for workers that are found in other gig economy sectors.
