Supermarket ‘dark jobs’ and rapid grocery delivery: Transformations in labour, technology and logistics

Abstract

As demand for rapid grocery delivery surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia’s supermarket duopoly set about transforming relations of labour, technology and logistics to secure dominance in the growing sector. I consider the rise of ‘dark jobs’ of the supermarket and what this means for affected workers. My research encompasses in-depth interviews with 17 supermarket workers, including personal shoppers and dark store workers. I also draw upon corporate documents and media statements released during the pandemic, as well as insights gleaned through my work within Australia’s union movement. I argue that the transformations underway result in three major developments. First, the intensification of supermarket work to adhere to the temporal logics of the on-demand economy, enabled by the increasing use of digital devices. Second, the absorption of precarious workers via digital labour platforms into the traditional firm which may undermine existing job security. Third, a blurring distinction between retail and logistical spaces with consequences for union representation that may erode workplace conditions. Taken together, the supermarket becomes a powerful testing ground in which the logics of on-demand platforms are transforming conventional employment settings and practices.