MercadoLibre—Academic research found algorithmic management creates stressful warehouse conditions with health and safety implications

Academic study details Mercado Libre's reliance on subcontracted labor and deliberate turnover to prevent organizing

A study by researchers Maurizio Atzeni (Universidad Adolfo Ibanez) and Sonia Filipetto (Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento), reported by El Destape in late September/early October 2026, found that roughly 90% of Mercado Libre's Argentine warehouse workers are contracted through labor intermediary Randstad on short-term contracts, with algorithmic task assignment and productivity metrics that intensify during peak demand, and found a deliberate strategy of constant personnel turnover intended to prevent collective organizing. The study also documented extensive subcontracting in Mercado Libre's last-mile delivery network, shifting costs and legal responsibility for accidents, terminations and benefits onto couriers and third-party operators, and linked this labor-cost externalization to the same algorithmic-management-driven health and safety concerns previously documented in the warehouse context.

Academic research found algorithmic management creates stressful warehouse conditions with health and safety implications

A November 2023 academic study published by Bristol University Press found MercadoLibre's combination of algorithmic management with discretionary human management 'limited workers' autonomy, increased control to virtually any time spent by workers, and imposed stressful working conditions with negative implications for health and safety.' The study noted the company's hiring strategy relies 'extensively on labour broking.'