The Gig Economy in Southeast Asia: Grab Conversation held in collaboration with the ILO

The International Labour Organization (ILO) recently launched its flagship World Employment and Social Outlook 2021 report: The role of digital labour platforms in transforming the world of work, which leverages a global survey of 12,000 platform workers in over 100 countries.  Amongst its policy recommendations, the report highlights the need for existing labor regulation to be adapted to include gig workers, to ensure they have access to social protections irrespective of their employment classification status.

In this edition of Grab Conversations, Grab hosted a webinar in collaboration with the ILO to frame the discussion on the gig economy in Southeast Asia. The webinar provides a starting point to examine how the recommendations raised in the ILO report may apply in Southeast Asia, or may require refinements to better suit the local contexts.

The webinar was anchored by Grab and ILO representatives and included a diverse range of panelists:

  • Uma Rani, Senior Economist at the ILO Headquarters
  • Sara Elder, Senior Economist at the ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
  • Lim Yew Heng, Group MD of Public Affairs at Grab
  • Ilaria Chan, Group Advisor at Grab
  • Pandu Sjahrir, Chairman at SEA Indonesia
  • Trevor Sworn, Director of Enduring Consultancy and Board Member of the Cambodian Federation of Employers and Business Associations (CAMFEBA)
  • Adrian Tan, Strategist at the Future of Work at Institute of HR Professionals in Singapore and former Uber driver
  • Prof. Dr. Noor. Azlan Ghazali, Executive Director of the National Economic Action Council of Malaysia

Framing the gig economy in Southeast Asia’s context

Informal “gigs” have been a feature of the global labour landscape for most of modern history. Workers in wide-ranging sectors from construction to carpentry and creative industries have long been familiar with informal, pay-per-task arrangements. The emergence of the “gig economy” is a more recent phenomenon enabled by the rise in digital technology applications. It encompasses a range of services that are enabled by platform companies using websites or mobile apps that are performed locally.

Southeast Asia stands out from other regions of the world in terms of socioeconomic development, level of urbanization, labor market structures and governance frameworks:

  • In contrast to advanced economies in Europe and North America, the vast majority of Southeast Asia’s workers are engaged in informal work.¹ 
  • Whereas many regions are facing greying populations, the population share of youth in some ASEAN countries is still relatively high – for example, over two-thirds of Cambodia’s population is below age 30.²
  • Digital adoption and inclusion in Southeast Asia have grown rapidly, with 70 percent of the region’s population online and 40 million new internet users in 2020.³

When it comes to the regulation of the gig economy, it will be important to take the region’s specific socioeconomic context in mind, and promote a balanced approach that aligns to the continued facilitation of growth and income opportunities.

Benefits and challenges of the gig economy

In the first part of the discussion, the panelists agreed that the emergence of the gig economy has brought tremendous benefits to various stakeholder groups across Southeast Asia:

  • For gig workers, it has created significant livelihood opportunities, easing some of the demographic pressures (e.g., large cohorts of young labor market entrants) and expanding labor market access for persons of all skill levels. Gig work is seen to be more accessible and flexible than traditional employment:
    • Lower entry barriers can facilitate access and inclusion for people with disabilities, women and the young, increasing their participation in the workforce. As an illustration, according to the ILO, around 10 percent of app-based ride-hailing drivers are women – twice the estimated 5 percent in the traditional taxi sector.4
    • The flexibility to choose when and for how long one works helps people fit paid work around other obligations, including household unpaid care work. Based on the ILO survey, over a third of gig workers complemented their existing income via platform work.5 Around 45 percent of Grab’s partners reported having no income prior to accessing work from the platform.6
  • For consumers, it has brought convenience and easier access to more affordable products and services at the click of a button.
  • For small and medium enterprises, onboarding with platforms has helped them scale up digital operations, facilitating an increase in total sales and customer reach.
  • For governments, it has stimulated economic growth by providing new avenues for job creation and financial inclusion. Grab has helped 1.7 million people open bank accounts since its inception, bringing them into the formal financial system.7

With the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the gig economy continues to create and sustain livelihoods, maintain consumer services and help small and medium enterprises stay afloat.

Nonetheless, there are still challenges presented by the gig economy model. Gig workers often face income precarity due to the transient and uncertain nature of work opportunities. They tend not to be covered by certain legal protections accorded to formal sector workers, and hence lack access to benefits typically provided to employees, such as insurance, sick-leave and pension plans.

Governments have a unique and delicate role to play to bring the various stakeholder groups together to leverage the benefits of the gig economy, while addressing its challenges, through productive social dialogue.

Addressing the challenges of the gig economy

In the second part of the discussion, the panelists agreed that governments are well placed to play an orchestrative role to bring the voices of various gig economy stakeholders together, when crafting policy solutions that address gig economy challenges. The hope is that governments will ensure that the voices of the most vulnerable gig workers are included in the policy dialogue. Invoking transparent and open discussion of all stakeholder interests through social dialogue is a necessary condition to promote fair governance of the gig economy.

 The objective is to ensure that all workers are adequately protected for the work they do. For platform workers this can come through the extension and adaptation of policy and legal frameworks where necessary. Yet even as governments are investigating the appropriate means of labour market governance for the gig economy, platform enterprises can engage directly with their partners through bilateral dialogues to ensure a mutually beneficial business model.

Policymaking for the gig economy often straddles the frontiers of existing and yet-to-be-written legal and regulatory frameworks. In search of a sustainable approach for all, governments should strive to bridge the evidence gap in the gig economy in Southeast Asia, for example by running experiments or ‘policy sandboxes’ to test the effects of different models in the real world, but in protected environments. Being able to compare outcomes like this ensures that policies are adapted to each country’s unique needs.

The way forward

The gig economy is here to stay, and is likely to be a key feature of the future of work. With this, greater collaboration and engagement between governments, gig workers, consumers and businesses to test, iterate and develop policies and regulations are needed, so that we help rather than hinder its progress. The journey has just begun. Through dialogue, including with the ILO whose mandate is to promote decent work for all workers no matter where or how they work, Grab hopes to keep the conversation going and work towards addressing some of the pressing and long-term issues pertaining to the gig economy in Southeast Asia.

1 ASEAN, 2019. Regional Study on Informal Employment Statistics to Support Decent Work Promotion in ASEAN, p.16.
2 UNFPA Cambodia Youth Data Sheet, 2015
3 Google, Temasek and Bain & Company. e-Conomy SEA 2020 Report.
4 ILO, 2021. World Employment and Social Outlook 2021 report: The role of digital labour platforms in transforming the world of work, p.137.
5 ILO, 2021. World Employment and Social Outlook 2021 report: The role of digital labour platforms in transforming the world of work, p.144.
6 Grab ESG Annual Report 2020, p.7.
7 Grab Social Impact Report, 2018/2019, p.4.

Komsan Chiyadis

GrabFood delivery-partner, Thailand

Komsan Chiyadis

GrabFood delivery-partner, Thailand

COVID-19 has dealt an unprecedented blow to the tourism industry, affecting the livelihoods of millions of workers. One of them was Komsan, an assistant chef in a luxury hotel based in the Srinakarin area.

As the number of tourists at the hotel plunged, he decided to sign up as a GrabFood delivery-partner to earn an alternative income. Soon after, the hotel ceased operations.

Komsan has viewed this change through an optimistic lens, calling it the perfect opportunity for him to embark on a fresh journey after his previous job. Aside from GrabFood deliveries, he now also picks up GrabExpress jobs. It can get tiring, having to shuttle between different locations, but Komsan finds it exciting. And mostly, he’s glad to get his income back on track.