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Experts take on protecting rapidly growing number of gig workers
The International Labour Organization (ILO) has called on Indonesia to discuss protective measures on internet-based gig workers such as ride-hailing drivers and freelancers.
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Wait for it: Ride-hailing app drivers queue up to buy food for their customers at the Pisang Goreng Madu Bu Nanik food outlet in Tanjung Duren, West Jakarta. (The Jakarta Post/Arief Suhardiman)
T
he International Labour Organization (ILO) has called on Indonesia to discuss protective measures for internet-based gig workers such as ride-hailing drivers and freelancers.
“They need to sit down together: companies, workers and the government. If regulations cannot accommodate such workers, they can agree beforehand on what is the best protection for these workers,” said ILO program officer Lusiani Julia on the sidelines of a seminar in Jakarta on Wednesday.
The ILO, Manpower Ministry and Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) have been in talks since early this year on the gig economy and its workers. The ILO describes the gig economy as "one of the most important new transformations in the world of work" that the organization has been studying since 2015.
The ILO urged Indonesia to adapt its labor laws, including the 2003 Manpower Law, to new working behaviors under the gig economy without compromising on the principles of “decent work” as enshrined under ILO international labor standards.
The Jakarta Post also talked to a government official and economist, both of whom agreed that the gig economy's impact on the workforce was still not fully understood except that it was rapid, unstoppable and in need of regulation.
A case in point, ride-hailing rivals Go-Jek and Grab grew at breakneck speeds as the former expanded operations from one city -- Jakarta -- in 2011 to 167 city-districts this year while the latter expanded from the same city in 2014 to 224 city-districts this year.
Expansion will only continue as the ride-hailing industry is expected to grow from $3.7 billion last year to $14 billion by 2025, according to a Google-Temasek report.
