Good move to protect vulnerable workers

IT’S amazing that the gig economy was only officially identified as “a new source of economic growth” in 2019, and only became a part of the five-year national plans with the 12th Malaysia Plan (2021-2025).

All while today it is valued at an estimated RM1.61bil.

Local digital platforms that are a source of gigs involve 1.2 million people who work as ehailing drivers and phailing riders, and they are expected to grow from RM371.4mil in 2021 to RM650mil in 2025.

That’s a lot of growth in a few short years, so it’s not surprising that the sector has been experiencing growing pains, not just here in Malaysia but globally as well.

The main issue is that gig workers are not seen as employees by the platforms they work with. This means they don’t have any of the protections regular employees have, such as some form of health and retirement benefits or any job security at all.

For instance, delivery drivers and riders complain that they can be arbitrarily blocked from getting jobs and have no recourse to argue their case or appeal.

“Such loopholes require the government’s attention,” said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi when launching a national forum on the gig economy framework on Monday.

The government had announced the formation of a commission to oversee this sector in June, and we’re glad to hear there is progress on this as Ahmad Zahid announced a tentative name for the commission – the Gig Economy Commission Malaysia (Segim) – and said that further details will be announced in Budget 2024 in October.

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, Segim’s primary duties will be to coordinate the creation of clear regulations and rules that can protect all participants and promote a fair environment in the sector.

The Human Resources Ministry is crafting a framework that will be used as a reference for everyone involved in the industry. Hopefully, there will also be regular reports on the progress of this framework so it’s transparent to everyone involved – workers and tech companies alike

While we don’t want to restrict growth by having a lot of red tape, we also need to ensure the gig economy is sustainable and gig workers are not run into the ground working under unfair conditions.