Is it just me, or has the whole “be your own boss” and “drive whenever you want” marketing for PHV platforms become the biggest joke in the local gig economy? I remember when people started driving for Grab or Gojek because they wanted to escape the 9-to-5 grind. They wanted to pick up the kids, go for a long lunch, or just take a random Tuesday off without asking for permission.
Fast forward to today, and honestly, what is the difference between being a PHV driver and a regular full-time employee? In fact, I’d argue being a full-time employee is better because at least you get CPF, annual leave, and a boss who can’t “de-prioritize” you because of an algorithm.
The biggest slap in the face is this “Shift Booking” nonsense. They call it “Tiering” or “Incentive Zones,” but let’s call it what it really is: a digital roster. If you don’t book your “slots” or hit specific “Power Hour” timings, you might as well not drive at all. You end up sitting at a coffee shop in Sin Ming or some industrial estate in Tuas for two hours waiting for a single $8 ping. To actually make a livable wage in Singapore—especially with the current COE prices and rental rates—you are basically forced to follow their schedule.
“Oh, it’s flexible!” Yeah, right. It’s flexible until you realize that if you don’t drive during the morning rush or the evening peak, you’re essentially paying the rental company to let the car sit in your CP. You aren’t “choosing” to drive at 6:00 AM; the platform is forcing you to drive at 6:00 AM because that’s the only way to hit the gems or the mission targets required to cover your daily overheads.
We’ve traded a human manager for an algorithm manager that is ten times more demanding. If a human boss asks you to stay late, you can at least argue or ask for OT. If the “Algorithm” decides you need to complete 15 more trips by midnight to get your bonus, you just have to suck it up and drive until your back breaks and your eyes are blurry.
We aren’t “Private Hire Partners.” We are full-time employees without the benefits. No MC, no dental, no insurance, and the “flexibility” is just a carrot they dangle to keep us from realizing we’re just gears in a machine that doesn’t care if we’re tired. If I have to “book a shift” just to see decent demand, then stop calling it a gig. Just admit we’re staff and pay us a salary.
TL;DR: PHV “flexibility” is a myth. Between shift booking and incentive chasing, we’re just 9-to-5 workers with higher overheads and zero job security. Be your own boss? More like be a slave to the app. 🤡