Extreme heat hits Chinese gig workers

As Bloomberg Green's Heat Week coverage continues, today's newsletter looks at how China's extreme heat is leaving gig economy workers exposed. You can read the full story on Bloomberg.com. For unlimited access to climate and energy news, please subscribe.

Bearing the brunt

By Karoline Kan

On a scorching morning in Beijing, Hao and a dozen other food delivery drivers sweltered outside a hot-pot restaurant. They smoked. They swiped through videos. They waited for the next round of lunch orders from people wise enough to stay indoors.

Hao, like most of China's 200 million gig workers, is eligible by law to receive a "heat wave allowance," or danger money for those required to work for hours in extreme heat conditions. He should be paid at least 180 yuan ($25) per month when the heat crosses 35C (95F). The city had already breached that, with the mercury heading fast toward 40C that week. But he hasn't seen a penny.

"I've never heard of a company benefit for working in a heat wave," said Hao, who's been clocking 10 hour days on his scooter for five years now. He declined to use his full name for fear of reprisals from his employer. Hao's not alone — most drivers have never received a payment.

When the sun turns cities like Beijing into gridded ovens, demand for deliveries spike. The hotter it gets, the more orders pour in. For platforms like Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.'s Ele.me, Meituan and JD.com — some of China's largest food delivery sites — the math is simple: sweating riders equal happy customers.

Delivery workers ride electric motorcycles in Beijing in June. Photographer: Wang Zhao/AFP/Getty Images

For their part, the companies say they do support workers. JD.com is offering full-time riders a hot weather allowance, the firm said, without elaborating on the details. Meituan is taking measures including the use of heatstroke prevention insurance from this month. Ele.me didn't respond to a request for comment, though has previously implemented programs which provided drivers with "summer cooling supplies."

For Hao and millions like him, the rush of orders mean he maybe earns an extra yuan per hour, or roughly 14 US cents. Not even enough for a cold bottle of water. Heat wave allowances are only given by companies that are willing to comply with the law, and with China's slowing economy pushing more than one in five workers to gig work, competition for jobs is fierce and few are willing to negotiate for better benefits.

By contrast, employees at government agencies and state-owned enterprises often jump online to boast of their own "heatstroke prevention subsidies" — cash bonuses, early leave, even vacations in state-run seaside resorts. There's no hiding the irony that China's gig workers, a growing group of mostly younger people, are some of the least protected in the biggest communist country in the world.

"Those who 'enjoy' the heat waves don't enjoy allowances, and those who enjoy allowances don't taste the heat waves," one user quipped on Weibo, one of China's most used social media sites.

The haves and haves-nots story isn't new, but climate change is making it starker. And deadlier.

In 2024, China recorded its hottest year on record. And the three previous years were all among the top five for highest annual temperatures since the 1960s. According to The Lancet, yearly heat wave-related deaths in China have now nearly doubled compared with 1986 to 2005, with more than 37,000 deaths in 2023 alone, the most recent full-year data.

Shanghai in July 2024. China recorded its hottest year on record in 2024. Photographer: Ying Tang/NurPhoto/Getty Images

The risk, however, isn't equally shared. Delivery drivers, street vendors, and construction workers bear the brunt. And when they collapse, few safety nets catch them.

A study published last year analyzing 1,200 food drivers and 580,000 meal orders found that during heat waves, gig workers saw a 9% increase in hourly orders, worked 6% longer hours, and earned only one yuan more per hour — in part because of an increase in penalties from delayed deliveries. Meanwhile, their out-of-pocket health costs to treat heatstroke and other harms, like worsening pre-existing cardiovascular and respiratory conditions, averaged over 500 yuan during the summer peak.

"Most couriers don't realize the health costs until they're sick and hospitalized, without medical insurance," said Susan Feng Lu, co-author of the study and professor at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. "Consumers benefit from staying protected indoors, yet the burden of health risks falls heavily on gig workers."

Continue reading the full story on Bloomberg.com.

Too hot to work

40C

By law in China, outdoor work is supposed to be suspended when temperatures reach this level. But enforcement is largely limited to those in formal employment. Gig workers fall through the legal cracks.

Cold drinks aren't enough

"Who needs a cup of cold tea at a station ten kilometers away on a hot day? What you need is a functional labor union that protects workers' rights."

Han Dongfang

Labor activist for Chinese workers

Delivery drivers need more than performative luxuries from employers to battle the heat, Han argues.

More from Green

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