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Informal workers, jobs and digital platform potentials
A study on the increased use of digital labor platforms among informal workers during the pandemic indicates the need for policy development and improvement to accommodate this growing subsector.
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An 'ojek' (motorcycle taxi) driver working via on-demand transportation and services company Gojek uses a voucher for free staple food packages at an Alfamart outlet in Jakarta.
T
wo years have passed since the COVID-19 pandemic entered our collective experience, disrupting economies and the livelihoods of people around the world.
Strict social distancing, lockdown measures and falling demand have resulted in mass layoffs and pay cuts for formal workers worldwide. Meanwhile, the cut in working hours have threatened the livelihood of informal workers who depend on daily earnings.
In Indonesia alone, around 60 percent of the workforce, or as many as 78 million people, work in the informal sector across industries and jobs, from construction to trade, and from transportation to domestic services. Informal workers are employed in various ways: as direct hires with wages, day laborers and workers under multi-party employment, as well as work assignments through an agency or a platform.
Many informal workers, in particular those who live in urban areas, rely on digital labor platforms for their livelihoods. Under Indonesia’s employment system, workers that use digital labor platforms are considered self-employed. They are not entitled to certain employment rights, such as guaranteed salary, sick pay and protection from platform deactivation.
The pandemic has presented extraordinary challenges for platform workers in Indonesia. A study I conducted in 2020 on accessing informal work online during COVID-19 found that temporary social restrictions and a ban on passenger transportation led to a 70-80 percent decline in income for platform-based ojek (motorcycle taxis) in Jakarta, leaving many of them struggling to meet their basic needs.
On the other hand, a large proportion of platform-based domestic workers lost their jobs when GoLife, the on-demand lifestyle services arm of superapp Gojek, closed down operations in mid-2020. Most of the domestic workers that relied on the platform suffered at least a 90 percent decline in their incomes at the start of the pandemic.
Amid these challenges, platform workers sought to find other jobs through social media. Platform-based ojek drivers who were interviewed for the study resorted to bypassing digital platforms and advertising their services on Twitter, while domestic workers reached out to their former employers on WhatsApp. For many of these workers, their efforts allowed them to compensate for the loss of earnings and tide them over the economic shock until restrictions were eased.
