This is a fixed-term position, with negotiable remuneration between R600,000-R660,000 per annum, starting as soon as possible until the end of June 2022.
The closing date for applications is 30 September 2020.
Fairwork is an action-research project that currently operates in the UK, Germany, South Africa, India, Chile, Ecuador, Brazil, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Egypt, and Bangladesh. We research working conditions in the gig economy, in order to develop ‘fairness ratings’ for digital labour platforms like Uber, Helpling and Deliveroo (see examples here). We use these ratings as a lever to improve pay and conditions for platform workers, through media and consumer pressure.
Fairwork’s programme of action research intends not just to understand the world, but to change it. By bringing workers, platforms, scholars, labour researchers and policymakers to the table, we work to collaboratively develop and embed principles of fair work into the script of the gig economy. Fundamental to the project is a commitment to being participatory and non-hierarchical within our communities: we are all—workers, unions, platforms, regulators, academics—the experts, and we all have co-developed this project. Our ultimate aim is to understand, and counter, some of the forces that disempower gig workers across the world.
Over the past three years, we have mobilized a unique and growing transnational network of social justice-minded scholars from over ten countries in pursuit of this planetary goal. In order to effectively advocate for gig workers everywhere, we believe it necessary for our team too to reflect a diversity of backgrounds, cultures, perspectives and more. In growing our team, we value and welcome the unique contributions that applicants can bring in terms of their education, opinions, cultural and linguistic backgrounds, ethnicity, race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, national origin, age, religion, disability, and beliefs. We actively strive to build and nurture a culture of empathy, inclusiveness, and respect.
The ideal candidate(s) will have:
See details of essential and desirable applicant criteria in the full job description.
As the successful candidate for the position of Research Officer, you will be based in Cape Town, South Africa. The Centre for Information Technology and National Development in Africa (CITANDA) is housed within the Department of Information Systems (IS) in the Faculty of Commerce of the University of Cape Town.
Reporting to the Principal Investigator (PI), you will act as a researcher of the Fairwork Foundation. The position will involve hands-on field research in South Africa and assisting with the project’s expansion to other parts of the world. Your tasks will include developing fair work standards, research with workers and platforms, organising meetings, outreach, liaising with external partners and stakeholders, disseminating findings in the media, assisting with the supervision of project researchers external to the OII, and assistance keeping the project to some of our key deadlines. The primary responsibilities of this position will be:
See the complete list of responsibilities in the full job description.
This is a fixed-term position starting as soon as possible until the end of June 2022.
The remuneration is negotiable between R600,000-R660,000 per annum.
If you have any questions about this role, please email Pitso Tsibolane at pitso.tsibolane@uct.ac.za.
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