Millions working in shadow of sharing, but uncaring, economy

Disputes

The third-party model has also prompted labor disputes. Ofo, one of China's leading providers of shared bikes, used the model to employ people to locate damaged bikes and move them to designated locations.

However, according to news portal Jiemian, some workers staged a protest outside Ofo's Shanghai office in May, claiming they had been fired without warning after failing to meet what they believed were unreasonable targets. Ofo has denied the allegations.

Different attitudes

Given the rapid development of the sharing economy, some workers are happy to accept the lack of security as a necessary evil, while others have adopted a "once bitten, twice shy" approach.

"I believe that social security would be good for us, but it is not practical for my nominal employer (the HR company in Zhejiang) and Didi Daijia to pay my insurance," said Liu, the designated driver in Beijing.

"However, I don't intend to change my job because I am not skilled in any other work."

Wang Haoyu, the rider who was hit by a car in March, has conceded defeat in his attempts to obtain compensation from the driver. He has quit his job and returned to his hometown in Henan.

"I don't want to continue with the job because I felt helpless when dealing with the aftermath of the accident. If such a thing were to happen to me in the future, I would feel there was nothing I could do to claim the compensation due to me," he said.

"In future, I will only accept a job that provides social security payments, even if the salary isn't very good."