Insight - Informal workers in South-East Asia: Resourceless, yet resourceful

Working as street vendors, construction and agriculture workers, waste pickers, home-based and domestic workers, drivers and increasingly, “gig economy” workers, their contribution to national economies is crucial.

INFORMAL workers dominate the region’s labour market in both urban and rural areas. More than half of the workforce in most South-East Asian countries earn their living in the informal sector, with the proportion surpassing 80% in Cambodia and Myanmar.

The exceptions are Singapore, Brunei and Malaysia, where formal workers dominate.

Working as street vendors, construction and agriculture workers, waste pickers, home-based and domestic workers, drivers and increasingly, “gig economy” workers, their contribution to national economies is crucial. Yet, governments in the region barely recognise their value, as highlighted by the scant attention they were given in their country’s Covid-19 response.