Dallas-based Debbie Welker quit working as a delivery driver for Shipt and Instacart earlier this year because gas prices were cutting too deeply into her earnings.
She would work 12- to 14-hour days, seven days a week to make around $1,200, but then would have to use some of that to pay for gas and other expenses. People stopped tipping, or tipped between $2 and $5 for an hour of shopping, something she thinks was affected by inflation.
“After deductions I was making less than minimum wage for the hours I was working or sitting in a store parking lot waiting for an order,” added Welker, who started during the pandemic.
Inflation is putting new pressure on the burgeoning workforce of gig workers who deliver food, drive passengers and perform other tasks on the giant tech platforms that so far are surviving the current unsteady economic climate relatively unscathed. That group of people — many of whom do the work part time or even to supplement income with a second job — has grown to a major portion of the workforce over the past decade built on promises of flexible work with high pay.
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