The reason Telepizza won't pay minimum wage: Undercover again

After publishing Glovolizacion, a three-month undercover investigation into the working conditions of Glovo riders, I received almost entirely positive feedback from the general public and riders alike. Most riders felt ignored and exploited, and most readers were interested in seeing the mechanics behind one of the newest forms of exploitation in Spanish society.

There was however, one small exception. I was contacted by a rider who complained that I was mis-characterizing the company, and that there are many other jobs with precarious conditions such as Telepizza. In essence, he felt that criticizing Glovo had become a “fad.” He said that Glovo was making him rich (a sentiment not shared by any of the other dozens of riders I interviewed) and since other companies treat their employees badly, who cares that Glovo does too?

Besides an almost textbook use of whataboutism to justify the exploitative business model of Glovo, the rider have a point: it is an easy company for the media to criticize. More traditional precarity can be less compelling, and certainly less novel. So, in response, I applied for a job at Telepizza. This is my report.