Autonomy and control: perceptions of beauty workers concerning platform work

• Grant number: 22/15933-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: March 01, 2023
• End date: February 29, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Sociology
• Principal Investigator: Aline Suelen Pires
• Grantee: Lucia Mendes Cucchieri
• Host Institution: Centro de Educação e Ciências Humanas (CECH). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

In recent years, we have witnessed a great growth in the use of digital platforms in various activities and occupations, and this process of platformization has been accompanied by precarious work. In Brazil, in addition to drivers and couriers by application, a segment that has recently stood out is that of beauty delivery application-companies. Through them, workers - manicurists, hairdressers, makeup artists, etc. - can provide their services at the customer's home, an alternative to the traditional dynamics of beauty salons. As this is a mostly female category with a history of precarious work, we wonder how these workers have perceived and experienced platform work. In this sense, our proposal is to carry out a research with manicurists who work through the Singu platform. Our objective is to analyze how the work dynamics of this application-company are being perceived by these manicurists, especially in regards to their autonomy and control at work. From this, we will seek to understand how they interpret the platform's algorithmic management of their work, and how platformization is establishing itself in the occupation of manicure - which is traditionally feminine and precarious. We will collect data mainly from semi-structured interviews with manicurists who work through the platform in the city of São Paulo-SP, as well as using data collected from the company's social media and from groups of manicurists on social networks.