What is daily working life like for people who work in the gig economy, and what work, protection and security is required by workers who are unable to feed their family despite all their hard work. With relentless precision combined with great compassion for its characters, Sorry We Missed You uses an English family to highlight various aspects of the modern gig and platform economies.

The new Ken Loach film had its Germany release premiere in the Kant Kino in Berlin.  After the screening, Permanent State Secretary Björn Böhning, Andrea Kocsis (ver.di) and Sahra Wagenknecht (DIE LINKE) discussed how digitalisation and globalisation are affecting people. What is actually meant by platform work – and what distinguishes good platform work?

Look at the dark side of the gig-economy

British director Ken Loach is known for the socially critical content of his films, which frequently view aspects of the contemporary working world from a working-class perspective. His latest work, Sorry We Missed You, deals with the shady side of the so-called gig economy, in which the next job is just a click away and everything is handled online. The benefits of working flexibly and autonomously are contrasted with the increasing pressure placed on the people who are employed this way.

Between job and family life

Ken Loach’s film takes an unflinching look at the realities faced by working-class people and the effects of the current economic situation on family life. Ricky is a father and husband going from job to job, until one day he accepts an apparently enticing offer of work as a self-employed driver for a package delivery company. Soon, however, he finds himself caught up in a maelstrom of time pressure, dependency and fresh debts, leaving him little time for his family. And with Ricky’s son threatening to go off the rails, his family life too is placed under tremendous strain.