Lonely Work: Gig Work, Workplace Technology and Working-Class Loneliness

Abstract In this paper, I argue that changes in the structure of low-income work and developments in workplace technology have stripped away many of the essential social goods provided by such work. I identify the rise of platform gig work, adoption of automation tools, and use of employee efficiency monitoring technologies as developments that have both squeezed opportunities for socialization out of the workday and made it more difficult to find and plan social activities outside the workplace. I argue that the desocialization of work is a matter of justice that should concern states and suggest a number of potential regulations and pro-worker reforms to address the problem.