LETTERS: AS the digital age surfaced, the gig economy formed its own market at its peak with no plans of slowing down. Indeed, the World Bank data underlines that in 2018 itself, 25.3 per cent of the Malaysian labour force are freelancers and it puts our country’s gig economy as growing, to as much as 26 per cent of the total economic growth.
Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had said that the gig economy will be made part of the 12th Malaysia Plan.
Generally, it is like working in a free market system whereby workers are allowed to work independently without being tethered to long-term contracts with any company.
In Malaysia, the most common gig economy jobs are those related to e-hailing and delivery services like Grab, Foodpanda and Gojek. The reason why more people out there, especially the fresh graduates, opt for the gig economy is simply because it is not easy to secure a permanent job nowadays.
As of November last year, the number of unemployed people was at 513,900. This has caused them to go for Plan B, by shifting to the gig economy, where at least they get paid so they can cover daily expenses. In a recent survey, findings indicated that 41 per cent of fresh graduates opt for a gig job as it can be a good starting path before landing a full-time or permanent job.
The other reason is because there are a tonne of job opportunities in the gig economy, through platforms like eRezeki and eUsahawan set up by the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC).
A survey by PriceWaterhouseCooper finds flexibility to be the top concern among millennial job seekers as — and the gig economy allows them to choose where, and when, they want to work.
There are, of course, drawbacks. The giggers are lacking in steady income, paid sick leave and other benefits resulting in higher chances of financial insecurity.
In Foodpanda, delivery drivers are paid based on the number of orders, not per hour. If within an hour they manage to do three or four deliveries, they would earn quite well.
However, as the nature of this work is based on on-demand service, riders can spend up to an hour waiting to be assigned for delivery. Since they are not getting paid for the waiting hours, they are unable to fully utilise their working hours to collect maximum daily wage. They can end up making less than the minimum wage. And what happens if they fall sick? This puts such giggers in a precarious position.
Not only that, in the long-term, it is tough for them to rent a property, let alone save for the bad days or for retirement, as they do not have financial safety nets like pension and savings in the Employees Provident Fund (EPF).
However, Gojek has recently made the right move by introducing an earnings protection insurance scheme for its drivers. Under this scheme, drivers will be covered for up to 21 days of medical leave and 84 days of hospitalisation leave.
Companies along with businesses must quickly adapt
and learn how to handle the massive influx of these freelance workers by investing in
mentorship and training courses to help them strengthen their skills so that standards can be met.
In the next few decades, we could see the end of the full-time position as the prevalent mode of employment.
Millennials and the Gen Z — the generations who are shaped by the Internet and mobile technology — are set to dominate the future world of work. They are more resilient to change and uncertainty, as well as crave for ownership in working.
As the gig economy continues to grow, companies should step up to adapt to these changes and ensure that the welfare of the giggers is protected while maintaining fair working standards as their utmost priorities.
NURAFIFAH MOHAMMAD SUHAIMI
EMIR Research, Kuala Lumpur
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times