ScholarWorks@중앙대학교

초록

This study analyzes emerging forms of labor control and the concealment of employer responsibility in the digital platform economy through the case of Coupang’s “Rocket Delivery.” Whereas the traditional conveyor-belt system institutionalized visible control and clearly identifiable employer liability, platform work governed by algorithmic management exhibits invisible control and systematically obscured responsibility. Drawing on in-depth interviews with ten logistics workers in Rocket Delivery, the analysis identifies three structural mechanisms: (1) dispersion of legal liability via multi-layered fissuring of the employment structure; (2) intensified, datafied supervision that strengthens control while misaligning with legal criteria for employer status; and (3) the servicization of logistics that legitimates heightened work intensity while facilitating the deflection of social responsibility. Building on these findings, the article proposes the concept of the “invisible conveyor belt,” capturing how digital technologies amplify labor control while concealing responsible actors behind algorithmic intermediaries. By shifting attention beyond the employee–independent contractor dichotomy to the structural concealment of employer responsibility, the study highlights how global platform capitalism is concretely realized in the Korean context. The results indicate gaps in the current social protection system’s coverage of platform workers and underscore the need for institutional reforms, including recognition criteria for de facto employer status, universal social insurance for all workers, and enforceable algorithmic transparency.

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