That might be what dynamic labor pricing implemented by a disinterested third party would do. An interested party can use it to do other things.
For decades, restaurants have paid their labor with dynamic “algorithmic” wages: work during peak shifts, get more tips.
Why haven’t people been up in arms about how bar tenders working a Friday night near more than bartenders working a Monday afternoon?
The paper is explicitly not (as in: the intro outright states this is not what it’s about) traditional forms of variable pay.
You’re literally describing tipping. When a worker starts their shift, they do not know how much they will earn. Tips vary per worker for sexism, racism, ageism reasons, or just plain luck.
But if 1 employer, chooses their wage opaquely, then that’s bad.
I don’t get it.
Will you know they’re offing you and Bill the exact same job at the same time, and are willing to pay whichever of you takes it first, but Bill’s offer is 20% higher? Or when they’ve made you a lower-than-usual offer to test if they can start offering you lower rates in the future (but you did just get a past-due notice on your kid’s hospital bill…)?
Is this any different from than any job ever? More experience airline pilots are paid more than the less experienced for the exact same route.
Two new grads from the same school may get different offers depending on how well they interviewed for the same role.
Where is the problem?
Customers have opaque expectations for service and pay their server based on the server’s gender, race, and age as well as quality of service that the server doesn’t even have control over (like if the kitchen was backed up).
A system counting smiles is basically what we currently have: instead of signaling with a smile, they signal with a tip amount.
1. Good wages for drivers means more drivers.
2. More drivers means better quality of service at lower cost for passengers.
3. Low cost and high quality service for passengers means more passengers.
4. More passengers means more rides and more money spent on platform.
More drivers and more passengers means more money for company. The argument that Uber/DD whatever is not incentivized to have high wages for drivers is ridiculous.
Now there is pre-tipping, tipping for no discernible service, fake tip jars in places that aren't licensed for it, etc.
More people are becoming aware that, in the US anyway, the wage is reduced commensurate with expected tips, and so customers are more or less obligated to supplement wages, and avoid offending servers, unless we don't want to be served at all.