Recently, there are online rumors that the US Mission has set an upper limit for the age of riders, and "riders over 45 will no longer send orders". This statement has aroused widespread public concern. The US group’s takeaway responded that this statement is not true. The platform allows registered riders to be between the ages of 18 and 57, and this policy has not changed. The "notice of delivery age limit" circulated on the Internet has also been confirmed as P-chart — — Someone added the words "over 45 years old" to the front.
Since the beginning of this year, rumors about "age limit" and "education limit" of riders have appeared many times. In March of this year, the rumor that "Meituan take-out restricts older riders" was circulated on the Internet, and it was quickly rumored; During the period of returning to work after the Spring Festival, rumors such as "Guangzhou Meituan riders are full", "the undergraduate rate of riders is close to 30%" and "the number of graduate riders exceeds 60,000" were once rampant.
Because of the characteristics of low entry threshold, freedom of work, more work and more pay, take-away riders are regarded as "the bottom of employment", and "when they can’t move, they will take delivery" has become a half-joking and half-serious idea for some professionals. Now, if someone tells you that this retreat may be gone, and the bottom may not be able to take it, can you not be anxious?
Rumors such as "the rider’s age limit is 45 years old" and "the rider’s undergraduate degree rate is close to 30%" are exactly stepping on the above emotional points, which have hit the point and aggravated some people’s age anxiety and academic anxiety in the process of job hunting. Some media have seized such emotional hotspots and harvested a wave of traffic through rumors.
In reality, contrary to online rumors, one of the important characteristics of occupations such as take-away riders and online car drivers is to provide a large number of employment opportunities for people with employment difficulties who appear with age. In the traditional employment market, many employees’ competitive advantages weaken with age, and they become people with employment difficulties. However, occupations such as take-away riders and online car drivers have low entry threshold, strong inclusiveness, high work flexibility, and can bring labor income that matches their efforts, and become a "reservoir" to absorb people with employment difficulties.
It is inseparable from the development opportunities brought about by the rapid development of the digital economy that older workers can also gain income and dignity through services such as take-out and online car rental. The local life service industry provides consumers with more convenient and diversified choices through the Internet platform and mobile payment means, and also provides more employment opportunities and income sources for riders. A report released by China Information and Communication Research Institute (China Institute of Information and Communication) predicts that by 2025, the number of jobs driven by the digital economy will reach 379 million. Take the rider who is engaged in online delivery work on the Meituan platform as an example, 2018-— In 2022, the number of riders earning income from Meituan platform increased from 3.231 million to 6.24 million, with an average annual increase of about 750,000.
The new economy creates new demand in the market, which in turn drives new occupations and posts, providing more employment capacity for economic development. At the same time, the application of various digital technologies and the optimization of resource allocation enable the take-away industry to provide services more efficiently. For example, through big data analysis, the platform can predict the order demand in different regions, so as to better allocate rider resources and improve delivery efficiency.
Therefore, the government fully affirmed the innovative value of local life service. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) Occupational Classification Ceremony (2022 Edition) issued by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security shows that among the 158 newly added occupations, 97 such as riders and take-away operators are marked as digital occupations. At the same time, all localities give excellent take-away riders home and other rewards, which is to create a social atmosphere that allows take-away riders to take root in their jobs and make more contributions.
The key to solving the employment difficulties of older people lies in encouraging innovation and providing new power sources for high-quality economic development. Through policy guidance and market liberalization, the government should create enough inclusive and open space for the rapid development of the digital economy, encourage more local life service areas to integrate with the digital economy, and further expand the employment cake.
The government, enterprises and relevant educational institutions need to work together to provide training and support for workers of different ages to adapt to the new employment environment and learn digital technology skills, so as to help them successfully complete the transformation and alleviate their employment anxiety. As a result, the digital economy will surely make more contributions to economic development and social stability. Chutian