[Press Release] Gig Economy in the Mid of Pandemic | Digitalk #44

Gig Economy in the mid of pandemic: could they survive?

Google Meet, 13 November 2020 – In the contemporary era, the gig economy plays a significant role in the country’s economic growth. Nevertheless, questions and doubts still arise about the gig economy’s progress and its significance, especially during the Pandemic. In Digitalk #44, Center for Digital Society (CfDS) invited the business manager of Maxim taxi, Imam Mutamad, to comprehensively discuss the condition and relevance of the gig economy amidst the Pandemic.

Service Innovation as a New Strategy during the Pandemic

At the beginning of the discussion, Imam talked about Maxim’s various problems as the gig economy actor throughout the Pandemic. When the Pandemic started, Maxim once reached its lowest-income point when the orders received extremely decreased to 70% and affected the company operation. Consequently, adaptability and flexibility in the business were crucial in order to respond to this issue. To obtain the best solution, Imam Mutamad added that Maxim drives its innovation in services diversification. The application’s new services include food & shop delivery, cargo, pick-up, and massage & spa in only six months. This service innovation effectively impacts business growth, proved by the increasing of orders time by time. More importantly, the food & shop delivery services also were meant to improving SMEs as the core of the national economy amidst the Pandemic.

The Application of Gig Economy in Maxim

In the next topic, Imam elaborated on the gig economy concept and the workers-partnership scheme in Maxim. He emphasized that Maxim’s workers’ relations have high flexibility, and they could decide the work time independently without strict regulations. Other than that, the workers-relations are not strictly binding, so that the partners are allowed to work with another company/start-up in order to increase their income. Imam then explained Maxim’s next innovation, such as the Maxim e-money feature, improvement of existing services, and maximizing the mapping between the platform and customers for the betterment ahead. In the closing statement, Imam accentuated that creativity alone is not enough; he stated, “It also takes speed, flexibility, adaptation, and agility to get maximum results and is also supported by durability.”

TaxiMaxim is a company providing ride hailing (taxi), delivery of goods, or cargo by applying the gig-economy concept. Since 2003 the company has successfully expanded its network to more than 22 countries in the world.

Author: Aldo Rafi

Editor: Ruth T. Simanjuntak