It's different though. Part-time retail workers pledge their loyalty to Walmart from 9-13 and to Best Buy from 18-22. They're not instantly choosing which boss is paying better for the next 15 mins. You actually have to get someone to cover your shift if you need a mental health break or something -- otherwise, your relationship with Bestmart is strained and you might be out of work.

For all of the phoniness behind phrases like "ride-sharing" and "gig economy", workers have never had a more horizontal relationship with their bosses -- except, perhaps, in higher pay-grade service sectors where "bosses" are referred to as "clients".

> Part-time retail workers pledge their loyalty to Walmart from 9-13 and to Best Buy from 18-22.

It's extremely common to not have fixed shifts. You ask for hours, and you get what you get. It's really not that different from accepting individual driving jobs.

There is also a dynamic where you are assigned shifts and if you don't make it your fired. Gets pretty dicy when you have two of them.

But neither company would pay you as a full time employee when you're jumping between jobs for both in the same hour/shift.

But if you are part-time, then you don't get employment benefits.