This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: More than half of New York City's app-based food delivery workers have been injured on the job, and 40% meet the criteria for severe psychological distress, according to a new study from the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy (CUNY SPH), in partnership with the Worker's Justice Project (WJP). The new brief, Driven by Algorithms: Unsafe Work in NYC Food Delivery, presents findings from a 2026 survey of 561 delivery workers.
More than 80% of respondents said food delivery apps mostly or entirely determine how quickly orders must be completed, which routes workers take and how many hours they work. To maintain high ratings, two-thirds said they rush to deliver on time, 56% said they work in bad weather, and 30% said they work even when they feel very sick. The toll on workers' health is substantial.
Among respondents, 53% reported a work-related injury, equal to 48 injuries per 100 full-time equivalent workers and more than five times the national rate for delivery messengers. Among all respondents, 46% reported an injury serious enough to require medical care or cause them to miss work, and 30% said they lack health insurance. The survey found that 40% met the criteria for severe psychological distress, five times the rate among adult New Yorkers and 10 times the rate among working-age adults nationally.
Severe distress is a state of overwhelming mental burnout that requires urgent mental health care. Many workers also face violence and theft on the job. The survey found that 36% have been physically assaulted while working, and 86% report theft of equipment or belongings, with losses averaging about $2,100.
"The toll we documented shows up both in injuries and in mental health," said CUNY SPH Assistant Professor Mustafa Hussein, lead author of the brief. "More than half the workers we surveyed had been hurt on the job, and 40% have severe psychological distress. Understanding what drives those outcomes, including how the apps organize and monitor work, is essential to protecting the people who keep this city fed." Deactivation is a constant threat.
The survey found that 52% of workers worried about being deactivated if they did not deliver fast enough. Seventy percent had contacted an app about a deactivation issue in the previous month, but only 37% of those workers said the issue was resolved satisfactorily. When asked what they most wanted to change about their jobs, 56% chose protection from deactivation, more than any other option.
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