On 27 May, the ALDE Party together with Uber co-hosted a Stakeholder Series event on the Future of Work and online platforms with panellists Sylvie Brunet MEP; Dragoș Pîslaru MEP; Jovana Karanovic, Assistant Professor at the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and Founder of Reshaping Work; and Joanne Kubba, Senior Director of Public Policy EMEA at Uber.

The discussion focused on how digital services, such as online platforms, can support the post-COVID-19 economic recovery of the European Union and how the future of work can be more interlinked with digital developments. According to Pîslaru, platform work has now become mainstream, and it is something that people make use of in everyday life, especially after the pandemic. It is also something that should continue to be developed. This view was shared by Brunet who in her opening remarks noted that platform work will only continue to grow and, for this reason, we will need to find ways to protect workers while still giving them the flexibility that platform work allows.

The rights of platform workers were also extensively discussed. According to Karanovic, the pandemic and lockdowns demonstrated that platform workers are essential, which further speaks to the important role they play in today’s societies. Given their importance, Kubba from Uber summarised the company’s efforts to support platform workers by working with policy makers: “We are constantly trying to push ourselves to do more, and platform workers deserve everyone’s thinking on how to create that flexible dynamic for people to be able to earn money when they want it and feel protected and given the benefits that they deserve and need.”

In case you missed the event, you can rewatch it here or below

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