Experts are raising concern that the flexibility advertised by gig platforms has turned out to be an illusion for many workers now stuck in precarious, low-wage employment, threatening the nation’s ambitions to become a developed country by 2045.

“[The quality of human capital] is declining, and it’s a trap for developing countries like us,” Silvi Asna, a lecturer at the University of Brawijaya’s School of Economics and Business, told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

"Worse, we might see more people refusing to work in this country, opting instead to work abroad for better pay,” she added.

The gig economy provides easy access to temporary jobs or moonlighting opportunities.

However, the informal nature of gig work, Silvi said, had left many workers vulnerable, with little government support or protection from the gig platforms they rely on for income.

“On the one hand, these gig platforms are innovative, but they have turned their 'partners' into workers,” she argued. “These platforms capitalize on people as their innovation, but the workers are left with no real autonomy.”