There was an article here in HN how nurses and nursing home staff in a lot of US are basically using an "uber for Nursing" app where you get a request and you can accept it or not......but the company that built it has a "desperation" score on every nurse and the more desperate they are estimated to be, the less money they are offered for the job - the logic being that they are not in a position to refuse.

Honestly, the article literally made me want to vomit. I'm not religious but our society has sacrificed everything human in the worship of mammon.

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burkaman 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

Report: https://rooseveltinstitute.org/publications/uber-for-nursing...

HN discussion about a similar company exposing private information: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43349115

The apps are ESHYFT, ShiftKey, ShiftMed, and CareRev. CareRev is a YC company (https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/carerev), so maybe the founders are around to explain the technical details of their desperation algorithm or why they allow employers to cancel shifts with 2 hours of notice.

	▲	SoftTalker 2 days ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Or maybe the developers are on here and can explain why they agreed to implement such a thing?
	▲	actionfromafar 2 days ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Better profits and more efficient rent extraction is the why. Stick to the how and you might get an answer?

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treis 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Is this anything more than a scary way to describe a pricing algorithm?

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gambiting a day ago | parent [-]

Honest question - are you trying to downplay the absolute horror of our technofeudalistic society, where nurses(!!!) are paid in a gig economy betting on their hours, where (if you read the report) the hospitals are free to cancel their shifts with no or little penalty even during the shift, while nurses are heavily penalized on every side, and things like having a lot of debt means you will be offered less money for your shifts because the app determines you are desperate?

Yes sure, technically that's no different than Uber hiking up your price at 3am because really, what other choices do you have.

But I do hope you spend a minute to wonder what is it doing to our society as a whole, and how the relentless pursuit of profit means we treat people whose job is literally to look after others like disposable trash that can be priced the same way a taxi ride is.

Sure, it's "just a scary way to describe it" - and I hope it's really scary.

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treis 16 hours ago | parent [-]

What you described is nothing new. Staffing firms for nurses have existed for a long time. These apps are automating the process and making it easier for both sides. I'm open to the idea that it's worse for workers but I haven't seen it. People seem to flock to these apps. To me that means they prefer the arbitrary and capricious nature of an algorithm over the arbitrary and capricious nature of human managers.

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gambiting 15 hours ago | parent [-]

>>Staffing firms for nurses have existed for a long time.

Do those staffing firms for nurses also pull information on your credit card debt and offer nurses less money if they have a lot of debt?

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treis 12 hours ago | parent [-]

That doesn't really address my point.

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gambiting 10 hours ago | parent [-]

I'm sorry, what is your point then. Because I thought it was that the apps and hiring houses for nurses are effectively the same - which is why I'm asking if they also pay less if you have more debt.

	▲	treis 10 hours ago \| parent [-]
		That in practice the arbitrary nature of the algorithm is superior to the arbitrary nature of human hiring.

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actionfromafar 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

But you know, free markets, invisible hand, everything else is Communism or something. Carry on.

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goatlover 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

This highlights the problem with privatizing things like healthcare and education, something libertarians don't understand. It works for the Koch's because they can pay for anything. It doesn't work if you're not rich.

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lo_zamoyski 2 days ago | parent [-]

I wouldn't say privatizing is the problem. It isn't. Private is often, or generally, good, as it gives you the freedom to pursue good ends without unnecessary involvement of state bureaucracy. It's bad and weird to have the state involved in everything. It's for-profit that is problematic in the mentioned cases.

Healthcare, insurance, banking, education, and so on should be not-for-profits or nonprofits (depending on the case).

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array_key_first a day ago | parent | next [-]

Health of the population is in the public interest, therefore it should be run by the public. Same with education.

We can have nonprofit education, say, and people will still be left out.

Less education is bad for you, it's bad for me, and it's bad for the whole country. Therefore it must be public or we must suffer.

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actionfromafar 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I think nonprofits can be bent to something weird, too. But might be worth a try. The current situation is just crazy.

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SoftTalker 2 days ago | parent [-]

All nonprofit means is that you are not organized with profit as a primary goal. It doesn't mean you don't make money, and it doesn't mean that executives don't have outlandish compensation.

	▲	lukan 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		Main problem with non profits in my understanding is, that they are often created for tax evasion purposes, but the legit non profits still get the regulatory heat.

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cwillu a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

For-profit-of-outside-investors

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seemaze 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

What is the incentive for a private entity to engage in non-profit business.. charity?

Nobody want's the state involved because they think they'll do a better job, they want the state involved because it's the last option available with incentives remotely aligned with the benefit of the polity.