This report examines the meanings, experiences, and future imaginaries of platform labour in Brazil, situating workers’ experiences within broader processes of algorithmic management, informality, and technological dependency. Drawing on 22 in-depth interviews with delivery workers, drivers, data workers, and union representatives, alongside an analysis of labour statistics, legislation, and regulatory debates, the study explores how workers understand autonomy, control, rights, and their prospects within the platform economy. The findings reveal a persistent tension between the flexibility promised by platforms and workers’ experiences of algorithmic control, income insecurity, long working hours, lack of social protection, and opaque systems of evaluation and punishment. At the same time, workers articulate demands for regulation, greater transparency, labour protections, and collective forms of organization. The report argues that understanding workers’ social imaginaries is essential to developing forms of measurement and regulation that reflect the specific realities of platform labour in Brazil and Latin America.
