Algorithms are increasingly damaging the mental health of Uberized couriers

Anxiety, isolation, sleep disorders: the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety (ANSES) examines the consequences of algorithmic management on their mental health, while recalling the numerous physical risks of the profession (accidents, musculoskeletal disorders, cardiovascular diseases, etc.).

This study supports the feeling that delivery drivers have been increasingly sharing for years: "The lack of payment for waiting times, the opacity of the rules for allocating trips and the multiplication of evaluation metrics (geolocation data, ratings, etc.) create an anxiety-provoking situation, which encourages people to constantly try to 'do more' to generate a decent income," write the ANSES experts.

These difficulties come in a context of great precariousness: between 2021 and 2024, taking inflation into account, the gross hourly remuneration of couriers fell by 34.2% at Uber Eats, by 26.6% at Stuart and by 22.7% at Deliveroo, according to figures published on April 4 by the Employment Platforms Social Relations Authority .

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