Fairwork Ecuador Ratings 2022: Labour Standards in the Platform Economy

There is no doubt that the general crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic has completely changed the economic and social landscape in Ecuador: these include economic recession, higher informality, accelerated digitization, changes in the local platform market structure, and legal reforms.

This second Fairwork report for Ecuador aims to enlarge the scope of platforms evaluated, while also tracking the evolution of the platforms we evaluated last year. It highlights the ongoing evolution of the Ecuadorian platform economy, the black market’s profile problem, the new business models of local entrepreneurs, and the legal challenges.

The ratings for this year show that some of these new players, particularly the local ones, offer better working conditions than the biggest transnational platforms. However, the majority of the gig workers in Ecuador continue to face unfair work conditions and lack benefits and protections.