The powerless bosses: the working day experience of bicycle messengers and its impact on their identities and wellbeing

The working experience of bicycle messengers is marked by a paradoxical sense of autonomy and powerlessness in the face of algorithmic control, a perceived sense of devaluation by others and its reproduction among their own colleagues, and competitive and at times hostile intra- and inter-group dynamics. We explore the implications of such working experiences for bicycle messengers' wellbeing and identity within this newly evolving form of labor.