As long as there has been the concept of ownership, workers have been abused and exploited by their employers. Whilst slavery might well now be illegal in most of the world, that doesn’t mean to say that slave labour or the equivalent of indentured servitude doesn’t still exist. Indeed, whilst the industrial revolution and technological advances have opened up a whole new world of possibilities, they’ve also made it much easier for the rich to get richer.
The internet has afforded much greater flexibility within the employment market. However, slowly but surely, workers’ rights have been eroded and diminished. Today, the percentage of adults employed in the gig economy is growing. Often made up of the most vulnerable groups within society. The Gig Is Up, the new documentary from Shannon Walsh, looks at the current shape of the modern ‘workplace’.
The Gig Is Up is a timely documentary which highlights the inequalities and abuses in our increasingly tech-savvy job markets. Walsh’s film builds up a picture of gig economies across the world and investigates the rights and entitlements these employees are often denied. Indeed, while companies like Uber, Amazon and Deliveroo grow at a rapid rate, their workers are treated more like statistics than human beings. The Gig Is Up does a great job of demonstrating this.
The Gig is Up screens at Edinburgh International Film Festival.
