The gig economy — familiar to the underemployed across America — has hit college campuses. But are these undergrads ready for the outside world?
Sean Christian carries a box.
Caroline O'Donovan / BuzzFeed
"Your succulent game is on fleek," Sean Christian, a rising senior at UC Davis and proud Theta Xi, told me in my living room on Sunday. Christian, along with Stephen Goode Jr., a 19-year-old rising sophomore at UC Berkeley, was there to help move me and all my belongings 10 blocks north to a new apartment in Oakland, California. I had hired them through Bellhops, a Chattanooga-based startup that aims to harness the underutilized labor pool of college undergraduates by allowing people living nearby to commission them as amateur movers.
Goode and Christian arrived at my house, separately, in nearly matching outfits; exercise shorts, athletic socks pulled halfway up the calf, sneakers, and T-shirts bearing the names and logos of their respective universities. The only difference was that Goode was wearing the bright green sweatband that bellhops are known for, while Christian — who, despite being Team Captain, had only done two moves before — hadn't received his yet. The fact that he was sweatband-less clearly upset Christian, but luckily Goode was able to locate a second in his car. Crisis averted.
As part-time contract workers picking up tasks from an app, bellhops can't be mandated to wear a specific uniform on the job. But, as Goode told me, training videos sent out by the company suggest that, while bellhops aren't required to wear the sweatbands, it definitely feels like they should.
Having the young men parading around in matching T-shirts and exercise gear contributes to the all-American college athlete look that Bellhops seems to want to emulate. That brand is perhaps best embodied by Barnabas, the company's shaggy-haired, polo-wearing cartoon mascot who was, apparently, based off of Michelangelo's statue of David. Barnabas serves as a model for aspiring bellhops. Though the company isn't huge, in order to keep supply and demand in balance, only some select applicants get to join the platform, so interview videos matter a lot.
"They have a specific kind of person they're looking for," said Christian.
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