Funda Ustek Spilda
@fundaustek.bsky.social
Senior Lecturer, Department of Digital Humanities, King’s College London
Digital economy / digital labour / AI & work
Digital economy / digital labour / AI & work
Reposted by Funda Ustek Spilda
Today, @katiejwells.bsky.social and @fundaustek.bsky.social explain how new Uber-style firms like CareRev and Clipboard Health are facilitating a race to the bottom among healthcare workers, and contributing to the erosion of America’s already-strained health care system.
Nursing on Demand: The Gig Economy Comes for Health Care
New Uber-style firms like CareRev and Clipboard Health use algorithmic scheduling, staffing, and management technologies to match understaffed medical facilities with nearby nurses and nursing…
lpeproject.org
June 30, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Today, @katiejwells.bsky.social and @fundaustek.bsky.social explain how new Uber-style firms like CareRev and Clipboard Health are facilitating a race to the bottom among healthcare workers, and contributing to the erosion of America’s already-strained health care system.
Reposted by Funda Ustek Spilda
In 2013, @timmaughan.bsky.social published a short story of dystopian fiction about Nicki, a 19-year-old zero-hour contract worker. Today, it reads as a plausible description of the working world of American nurses. My latest for @lpeproject.bsky.social. lpeproject.org/blog/nursing...
Nursing on Demand: The Gig Economy Comes for Health Care
New Uber-style firms like CareRev and Clipboard Health use algorithmic scheduling, staffing, and management technologies to match understaffed medical facilities with nearby nurses and nursing…
lpeproject.org
June 30, 2025 at 1:05 PM
In 2013, @timmaughan.bsky.social published a short story of dystopian fiction about Nicki, a 19-year-old zero-hour contract worker. Today, it reads as a plausible description of the working world of American nurses. My latest for @lpeproject.bsky.social. lpeproject.org/blog/nursing...
Reposted by Funda Ustek Spilda
Great piece today by Katie J. Wells and Funda Ustek Spilda on the gig economy in nursing and algorithmic wage discrimination for health care providers, including discrimination based on workers’ credit information.
lpeproject.org/blog/nursing...
lpeproject.org/blog/nursing...
Nursing on Demand: The Gig Economy Comes for Health Care
New Uber-style firms like CareRev and Clipboard Health use algorithmic scheduling, staffing, and management technologies to match understaffed medical facilities with nearby nurses and nursing…
lpeproject.org
June 30, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Great piece today by Katie J. Wells and Funda Ustek Spilda on the gig economy in nursing and algorithmic wage discrimination for health care providers, including discrimination based on workers’ credit information.
lpeproject.org/blog/nursing...
lpeproject.org/blog/nursing...
Reposted by Funda Ustek Spilda
New paper! Latest work from @geoplace.bsky.social @oii.ox.ac.uk exploring the strategic unknowns embedded in the business models of digital care work platforms, published in Critical Sociology. Co-authors @fundaustek.bsky.social and Dr Alessio Bertolini. Read the full paper here:
bit.ly/3F4WAJW
bit.ly/3F4WAJW
The Strategic Unknowns of Business Models of Digital Care Work Platforms - Funda Ustek Spilda, Alessio Bertolini, Adam Badger, Oguz Alyanak, Mark Graham, 2025
Informed by the scholarship of strategic ignorance (agnotology), this study presents a critical analysis of digital care work platforms and their business model...
bit.ly
May 13, 2025 at 9:07 AM
New paper! Latest work from @geoplace.bsky.social @oii.ox.ac.uk exploring the strategic unknowns embedded in the business models of digital care work platforms, published in Critical Sociology. Co-authors @fundaustek.bsky.social and Dr Alessio Bertolini. Read the full paper here:
bit.ly/3F4WAJW
bit.ly/3F4WAJW
Reposted by Funda Ustek Spilda
Silicon Valley's plan to Uberize nursing only worsens our healthcare crisis, we argue. New piece from
@fundaustek.bsky.social and myself w/ the support of
@geoplace.bsky.social and @veenadubal.bsky.social.
www.statnews.com/2025/03/31/u...
@fundaustek.bsky.social and myself w/ the support of
@geoplace.bsky.social and @veenadubal.bsky.social.
www.statnews.com/2025/03/31/u...
Uber for nursing is here — and it’s not good for patients or nurses
“I just feel like I am on an island by myself a lot”: How gig working leaves nurses less equipped to care for patients.
www.statnews.com
March 31, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Silicon Valley's plan to Uberize nursing only worsens our healthcare crisis, we argue. New piece from
@fundaustek.bsky.social and myself w/ the support of
@geoplace.bsky.social and @veenadubal.bsky.social.
www.statnews.com/2025/03/31/u...
@fundaustek.bsky.social and myself w/ the support of
@geoplace.bsky.social and @veenadubal.bsky.social.
www.statnews.com/2025/03/31/u...
Reposted by Funda Ustek Spilda
Join us March 5 in DC to discuss what happens when nurses use AI to bid against each other for shifts.
@veenadubal.bsky.social @daveyseligman.bsky.social @geoplace.bsky.social @fundaustek.bsky.social &
@chenjerai.bsky.social will guide us through the new tech wilderness. Register: lnkd.in/eCsiWVye
@veenadubal.bsky.social @daveyseligman.bsky.social @geoplace.bsky.social @fundaustek.bsky.social &
@chenjerai.bsky.social will guide us through the new tech wilderness. Register: lnkd.in/eCsiWVye
February 25, 2025 at 9:43 PM
Join us March 5 in DC to discuss what happens when nurses use AI to bid against each other for shifts.
@veenadubal.bsky.social @daveyseligman.bsky.social @geoplace.bsky.social @fundaustek.bsky.social &
@chenjerai.bsky.social will guide us through the new tech wilderness. Register: lnkd.in/eCsiWVye
@veenadubal.bsky.social @daveyseligman.bsky.social @geoplace.bsky.social @fundaustek.bsky.social &
@chenjerai.bsky.social will guide us through the new tech wilderness. Register: lnkd.in/eCsiWVye
Reposted by Funda Ustek Spilda
Since 2016, US hospitals have been relying on "gig" nurses.
@katiejwells.bsky.social & @fundaustek.bsky.social interviewed 29 "gig" nurses & nursing assistants, revealing how on-demand staffing services intensify existing challenges in the healthcare industry. rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...
@katiejwells.bsky.social & @fundaustek.bsky.social interviewed 29 "gig" nurses & nursing assistants, revealing how on-demand staffing services intensify existing challenges in the healthcare industry. rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...
January 15, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Since 2016, US hospitals have been relying on "gig" nurses.
@katiejwells.bsky.social & @fundaustek.bsky.social interviewed 29 "gig" nurses & nursing assistants, revealing how on-demand staffing services intensify existing challenges in the healthcare industry. rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...
@katiejwells.bsky.social & @fundaustek.bsky.social interviewed 29 "gig" nurses & nursing assistants, revealing how on-demand staffing services intensify existing challenges in the healthcare industry. rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...
Reposted by Funda Ustek Spilda
"It sucks that there's nobody that you can get ahold of immediately," a nurse told me.
"It's really as if AI has eaten the managers," I explained to @businessinsider.com
www.businessinsider.com/uber-for-nur...
"It's really as if AI has eaten the managers," I explained to @businessinsider.com
www.businessinsider.com/uber-for-nur...
Nursing has become a new frontier for gig work, and it's creating the same issues that Uber drivers face
Nurses have started to use gig work apps to land shifts at healthcare facilities, a report found. Many are facing similar issues to Uber drivers.
www.businessinsider.com
December 21, 2024 at 12:56 PM
"It sucks that there's nobody that you can get ahold of immediately," a nurse told me.
"It's really as if AI has eaten the managers," I explained to @businessinsider.com
www.businessinsider.com/uber-for-nur...
"It's really as if AI has eaten the managers," I explained to @businessinsider.com
www.businessinsider.com/uber-for-nur...
Reposted by Funda Ustek Spilda
Research by @katiejwells.bsky.social and @fundaustek.bsky.social details how these platforms prioritize cost-cutting over worker and patient safety. www.commondreams.org/news/gig-wor...
New Report Sheds Light on the Pitfalls of AI-Powered 'Gig Nursing' | Common Dreams
"These apps are a symptom of broken healthcare infrastructure that is now victim to corporate takeovers. Failing to act on both fronts poses risks to our healthcare system and the workers who power it...
www.commondreams.org
December 20, 2024 at 1:53 PM
Research by @katiejwells.bsky.social and @fundaustek.bsky.social details how these platforms prioritize cost-cutting over worker and patient safety. www.commondreams.org/news/gig-wor...
Reposted by Funda Ustek Spilda
This makes me think about the time we got a Lyft driver who literally fell asleep at a stoplight
This piece made me furious. Nurses are asked to *bid* on shifts, offering to work lower and lower wages, and then the app can fail and not pay them at all. We don't have a nursing shortage, we have a shortage of good jobs sane humans are willing to work. rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...
Uber for Nursing: How an AI-Powered Gig Model Is Threatening Health Care - Roosevelt Institute
Through original interviews with 29 “gig” nurses and nursing assistants, Katie J. Wells and Funda Ustek Spilda find that on-demand nursing companies encourage nurses to work for less pay, fail to prov...
rooseveltinstitute.org
December 18, 2024 at 9:38 PM
This makes me think about the time we got a Lyft driver who literally fell asleep at a stoplight
Reposted by Funda Ustek Spilda
Once again, the reason AI is facing a backlash isn’t because people are anti-tech, it’s because this is what AI *actually does* in the world — make services worse and people’s livelihoods more precarious
This piece made me furious. Nurses are asked to *bid* on shifts, offering to work lower and lower wages, and then the app can fail and not pay them at all. We don't have a nursing shortage, we have a shortage of good jobs sane humans are willing to work. rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...
Uber for Nursing: How an AI-Powered Gig Model Is Threatening Health Care - Roosevelt Institute
Through original interviews with 29 “gig” nurses and nursing assistants, Katie J. Wells and Funda Ustek Spilda find that on-demand nursing companies encourage nurses to work for less pay, fail to prov...
rooseveltinstitute.org
December 18, 2024 at 6:56 PM
Once again, the reason AI is facing a backlash isn’t because people are anti-tech, it’s because this is what AI *actually does* in the world — make services worse and people’s livelihoods more precarious
Reposted by Funda Ustek Spilda
We quote @gabrielwinant.bsky.social: “Health care is run increasingly on a ‘lean’ basis, at the bare minimum of staffing, & then when there is a need to increase supply firms like CareRev are positioned to profit; it’s good for them & good for hospitals but bad for workers & bad for patients.”
This piece made me furious. Nurses are asked to *bid* on shifts, offering to work lower and lower wages, and then the app can fail and not pay them at all. We don't have a nursing shortage, we have a shortage of good jobs sane humans are willing to work. rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...
Uber for Nursing: How an AI-Powered Gig Model Is Threatening Health Care - Roosevelt Institute
Through original interviews with 29 “gig” nurses and nursing assistants, Katie J. Wells and Funda Ustek Spilda find that on-demand nursing companies encourage nurses to work for less pay, fail to prov...
rooseveltinstitute.org
December 19, 2024 at 2:29 PM
We quote @gabrielwinant.bsky.social: “Health care is run increasingly on a ‘lean’ basis, at the bare minimum of staffing, & then when there is a need to increase supply firms like CareRev are positioned to profit; it’s good for them & good for hospitals but bad for workers & bad for patients.”
Reposted by Funda Ustek Spilda
Pair this with @allisonpugh.bsky.social ’s excellent book on the devaluation of connective labor press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
December 19, 2024 at 3:24 AM
Pair this with @allisonpugh.bsky.social ’s excellent book on the devaluation of connective labor press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
Reposted by Funda Ustek Spilda
Not only is this greedy & insulting, it’s *terrible* for patients & workflow. My husband is an RN & you can’t believe how many mistakes happen bc of travel nurses who don’t know the hospital—& they stay for months. Now imagine what happens when you get nurses the way car washes pick up day workers.
This piece made me furious. Nurses are asked to *bid* on shifts, offering to work lower and lower wages, and then the app can fail and not pay them at all. We don't have a nursing shortage, we have a shortage of good jobs sane humans are willing to work. rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...
Uber for Nursing: How an AI-Powered Gig Model Is Threatening Health Care - Roosevelt Institute
Through original interviews with 29 “gig” nurses and nursing assistants, Katie J. Wells and Funda Ustek Spilda find that on-demand nursing companies encourage nurses to work for less pay, fail to prov...
rooseveltinstitute.org
December 19, 2024 at 1:59 AM
Not only is this greedy & insulting, it’s *terrible* for patients & workflow. My husband is an RN & you can’t believe how many mistakes happen bc of travel nurses who don’t know the hospital—& they stay for months. Now imagine what happens when you get nurses the way car washes pick up day workers.
Reposted by Funda Ustek Spilda
A new @rooseveltinstitute.bsky.social report by @katiejwells.bsky.social and @fundaustek.bsky.social reveals how the AI-powered gig model has its tentacles in the healthcare industry, and how it is creating new hazards for workers and patients. www.commondreams.org/news/gig-wor...
New Report Sheds Light on the Pitfalls of AI-Powered 'Gig Nursing' | Common Dreams
"These apps are a symptom of broken healthcare infrastructure that is now victim to corporate takeovers. Failing to act on both fronts poses risks to our healthcare system and the workers who power it...
www.commondreams.org
December 19, 2024 at 4:38 PM
A new @rooseveltinstitute.bsky.social report by @katiejwells.bsky.social and @fundaustek.bsky.social reveals how the AI-powered gig model has its tentacles in the healthcare industry, and how it is creating new hazards for workers and patients. www.commondreams.org/news/gig-wor...
Here is a coverage of our recent article by @levernews.com @rooseveltinstitute.bsky.social @katiejwells.bsky.social @towardsfairwork.bsky.social
🚨NEW: As if the health care system isn’t broken enough, Big Tech and Wall Street are now trying to Uber-ify nursing.
Gig on-demand nursing apps have made investors a small fortune — all while screwing over workers and patients 👇
www.levernews.com/the-dangerou...
Gig on-demand nursing apps have made investors a small fortune — all while screwing over workers and patients 👇
www.levernews.com/the-dangerou...
The Dangerous Lie Behind On-Demand Nursing
“Uber for nurses” is extracting profits and hurting health care, all to solve a problem that doesn’t exist.
www.levernews.com
December 18, 2024 at 5:51 PM
Here is a coverage of our recent article by @levernews.com @rooseveltinstitute.bsky.social @katiejwells.bsky.social @towardsfairwork.bsky.social
Reposted by Funda Ustek Spilda
"These on-demand nursing apps can create high-risk, low-reward working conditions that endanger medical professionals and patients alike."
If we have learned anything from Uber, it’s time to rein in the on-demand nursing services. @levernews.com www.levernews.com/the-dangero...
If we have learned anything from Uber, it’s time to rein in the on-demand nursing services. @levernews.com www.levernews.com/the-dangero...
The Dangerous Lie Behind On-Demand Nursing
“Uber for nurses” is extracting profits and hurting health care, all to solve a problem that doesn’t exist.
www.levernews.com
December 18, 2024 at 4:58 PM
"These on-demand nursing apps can create high-risk, low-reward working conditions that endanger medical professionals and patients alike."
If we have learned anything from Uber, it’s time to rein in the on-demand nursing services. @levernews.com www.levernews.com/the-dangero...
If we have learned anything from Uber, it’s time to rein in the on-demand nursing services. @levernews.com www.levernews.com/the-dangero...
Reposted by Funda Ustek Spilda
The @guardian covering the important new paper on gig nursing in the US by #Fairwork US PI @katiejwells.bsky.social and #Fairwork Senior Researcher @fundaustek.bsky.social 👇
@rooseveltinstitute.bsky.social @groundwork.bsky.social
amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2024...
@rooseveltinstitute.bsky.social @groundwork.bsky.social
amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2024...
‘Uber for nursing’: alarm over use of AI to aid US nurses and healthcare | US healthcare | The Guardian
Report by Roosevelt institutes argues apps encourages nurses to work for less pay and can threaten patient wellbeing
amp.theguardian.com
December 17, 2024 at 1:59 PM
The @guardian covering the important new paper on gig nursing in the US by #Fairwork US PI @katiejwells.bsky.social and #Fairwork Senior Researcher @fundaustek.bsky.social 👇
@rooseveltinstitute.bsky.social @groundwork.bsky.social
amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2024...
@rooseveltinstitute.bsky.social @groundwork.bsky.social
amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2024...
Reposted by Funda Ustek Spilda
We write: “Wall Street’s takeover of US health-care infrastructure and Silicon Valley’s introduction of gig nursing apps are a dangerous duo that is eroding our health-care system and eviscerating our ability to take care of each other.”
December 17, 2024 at 4:53 PM
We write: “Wall Street’s takeover of US health-care infrastructure and Silicon Valley’s introduction of gig nursing apps are a dangerous duo that is eroding our health-care system and eviscerating our ability to take care of each other.”
Reposted by Funda Ustek Spilda
Gig nursing apps don’t “fix” health care—they exploit workers and put patients at risk. Lower wages. Zero training. No accountability.
Groundwork’s @katiejwells.bsky.social: “We have a problem with care. We don’t pay it well enough.” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024...
Groundwork’s @katiejwells.bsky.social: “We have a problem with care. We don’t pay it well enough.” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024...
December 17, 2024 at 5:12 PM
Gig nursing apps don’t “fix” health care—they exploit workers and put patients at risk. Lower wages. Zero training. No accountability.
Groundwork’s @katiejwells.bsky.social: “We have a problem with care. We don’t pay it well enough.” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024...
Groundwork’s @katiejwells.bsky.social: “We have a problem with care. We don’t pay it well enough.” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024...
Reposted by Funda Ustek Spilda
NEW📃: Since 2016, US hospitals have integrated "gig" nurses.
@katiejwells.bsky.social & @fundaustek.bsky.social interviewed 29 "gig" nurses & nursing assistants. They find that on-demand nursing firms exacerbate existing issues in the health-care industry. rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...
@katiejwells.bsky.social & @fundaustek.bsky.social interviewed 29 "gig" nurses & nursing assistants. They find that on-demand nursing firms exacerbate existing issues in the health-care industry. rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...
December 17, 2024 at 2:19 PM
NEW📃: Since 2016, US hospitals have integrated "gig" nurses.
@katiejwells.bsky.social & @fundaustek.bsky.social interviewed 29 "gig" nurses & nursing assistants. They find that on-demand nursing firms exacerbate existing issues in the health-care industry. rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...
@katiejwells.bsky.social & @fundaustek.bsky.social interviewed 29 "gig" nurses & nursing assistants. They find that on-demand nursing firms exacerbate existing issues in the health-care industry. rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...
Really pleased to share that @katiejwells.bsky.social and I have a new report out published by the @rooseveltinstitute.bsky.social. As part of @towardsfairwork.bsky.social we have been studying nursing platforms, and this brief presents our insights into this new domain of platformisation in the US.
December 17, 2024 at 11:47 AM
Really pleased to share that @katiejwells.bsky.social and I have a new report out published by the @rooseveltinstitute.bsky.social. As part of @towardsfairwork.bsky.social we have been studying nursing platforms, and this brief presents our insights into this new domain of platformisation in the US.