The TUC has accused the work and pensions secretary, Mel Stride, of “glorifying the gig economy” instead of tackling the real challenges facing older workers, after he suggested unemployed over-50s consider becoming delivery riders.
On a visit to the London headquarters of food delivery firm Deliveroo, Stride said it was “good for people to consider options they might not have otherwise thought of”, including those traditionally seen as being for younger workers.
He hailed the benefits of working for the delivery app, saying, “what we’re seeing here is the ability of log on and off anytime you like, no requirement to have to do a certain number of hours over a certain period of time, which is driving huge opportunities”.
The TUC’s senior policy officer for employment rights, Tim Sharp, said the reality of the gig economy tends to be very different. “Often pay is low, there’s often no job security, little if any employment rights. It’s not the solution the government should be thinking about,” he said.
He warned that Stride’s comments “risk glorifying the gig economy”.
Sharp conceded there had been improvements in conditions in recent years – including a union recognition deal between Deliveroo and the GMB – but questioned whether such jobs offer genuine flexibility for staff.
“It’s one-sided flexibility: there’s times in the day when you’ll make money and there’s times when you won’t make money. We shouldn’t be funnelling over-50s down that road.” Instead, he called on the government to ensure all older workers get the flexibility and support with their health and wellbeing they need.
That assessment was echoed by Dr Callum Cant, of the Internet Institute at Oxford University, author of a 2019 book on working and union organising at Deliveroo.
“These jobs are particularly insecure because the wage is never guaranteed. People are always at risk of earning less than the minimum wage,” Cant said.
“The idea that people would be relying on that as a pension income is shocking to me. No one should be pushed into jobs like these.”
“If you want to be able to earn decent money you have to work evenings, weekends, peak times,” he added. “It’s the flexibility not to earn much money.”
Luke Price, policy manager for the work at thinktank the Centre for Ageing Better, said Stride was right to highlight the need for flexibility for older workers. But he warned, “the kinds of reasons that older workers want flexibility is around caring responsibilities – for grandchildren, for children, for older relatives – and that might have quite a rigid time schedule that doesn’t fit with this kind of work”.
Like many gig economy workers, Deliveroo riders are self-employed – a status the delivery firm rigorously defended in a long-running court battle against the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain.
Labour’s shadow employment minister, Alison McGovern, dismissed Stride’s remarks as evidence the government lacks a coherent plan to tackle economic inactivity among older workers, which has risen since the pandemic.
“These ridiculous comments show that the Conservatives don’t have a clue when it comes to helping over 50s to get back into work,” she said. “The Tories’ abject failure to support people means Britain is the only G7 country to have a lower employment rate than before the pandemic.”
There have been tentative signs in recent official data that the sharp increase in the number of 50- to 64-year-olds who are economically inactive – neither in work nor looking for a job – has begun to reverse. But the inactivity rate in this age group, at 26.5%, remains more than twice that among 35- to 49-year-olds.
The government announced measures at the March budget to try to encourage older workers back into the labour market – including expanding “mid-life MOTs” that offer people a financial checkup.
Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, also promised “returnerships” for older workers, though in practice this is expected to mean rebadging existing employment schemes.
The chancellor had previously been criticised after exhorting 50- to 64-year-olds who had left the labour force to come back, by reminding them life “doesn’t just have to be about going to the golf course”.
A Deliveroo spokesperson said: “Deliveroo offers flexible, self-employed work to more than 90,000 riders across the UK. We receive thousands of applications each week from people wanting to be Deliveroo riders and retention is strong.
“Every rider is guaranteed to earn at least the National Living Wage plus costs while working with us, though the majority earn more than this, and through our landmark agreement with the GMB union we will collectively bargain on pay and consult on benefits and other issues, including riders’ health, safety and wellbeing.”
