- 24/08/2022
- Category: Press Release
Technological developments which exist to overcome the daily problems also affects the workers behind it. They feel compelled to keep up with the development of this technology in order to remain relevant and necessary in the labour market. The phenomenon of the increasing number of platform-based digital workers raises the question of whether the platform economy is the future of work. To answer this question, the Goethe Institute, the Center for Digital Society of Gadjah Mada University, and EngageMedia invited researchers who are studying this phenomenon to discuss it in the panel discussion series “Digital Discourses – The Platform Economy: The Future of Work?” on Tuesday, August 16, 2022 at 15.00 – 17.00 WIB. The researchers are Oğuz Alyanak (Globalization, Work, and Production research group, WZB/Berlin Social Science Center), Cheryll Ruth R. Soriano (Department of Communication, De La Salle University, Manila) and Suci Lestari Yuana (Department of International Relations, Gadjah Mada University). This event was livestreamed through Zoom and CfDS YouTube channel (bit.ly/dd-platformeconomy).
Fairwork Principles as The Indicators of Labour Justice
Fairwork, as an organization that focuses on platform workers fairness, showed that along with the broad opportunities brought by the platform economy, there are risks and inequalities faced by the workers because they are not protected by laws and don’t get their rights as workers.
To that end, Fairwork developed Fairwork Principles to assess and advocate for companies and platform providers to improve the welfare of platform workers. The Fairwork Principles consist of Fair Pay, Fair Conditions, Fair Contracts, Fair Management, and Fair Representation. Each principle has two assessment points, so companies considered worthy can score 10 out of 10. These principles were used in the presentations of each researcher from three different countries, Germany, the Philippines, and Indonesia. Even so, the scores of each country cannot be directly compared to each other, Cheryll explained that “It should be taken with caution when comparing. Government policy may have impact to pressure the platform to do better.”
Platform Economy in Germany and The Philippines
Germany became one of Fairwork’s research locations based on the number of companies and platform providers in Berlin. The large number of companies involved in the platform economy in Germany certainly increases the competition and the number of platforms and opportunities for platform workers. However, based on Oğuz’s explanation, the high competition between platforms does not mean an increase in the standards of eligibility and welfare of its workers.
No platforms that were being scored by Fairwork Principles have reached a perfect score. Some achieved 7/10 such as Wolt. Though, there are still a lot of steps need to be taken to better the life quality of platform workers in Germany.
While in The Philippines, no platforms have reached score more than 3/10 despite its large audience since platform economy is pushed by the government as the answer to unemployment rate in the country. The government also uses this phenomenon as a branding effort as a country that provides world-class workers.
However, in reality, many platform workers are still not prosperous, in contrast to the ‘world-class worker’ brand echoed by the government. “Mostly, the platforms do not possess formal contracts, only subcontracts as they were seen as freelancers and independent contractors. This position disqualified the workers from gaining worker protection and benefits,” Cheryll explained.
“Work activism matters not only to change policies in the platforms but also to open the politician, medias, and researcher’s eyes that something is happening with them,” Oğuz said.
The Potential of Platform Economy in Indonesia
Not much different from the Philippines, only a few platform providers in Indonesia has reached the appropriate eligibility level. In addition, only a few large companies have clear policy communications, such as Gojek, Grab, and Paxel. Even so, Yuana stated that the increasing scale of the platform economy in Indonesia is a potential that could be developed for optimizing the digitization of businesses in Indonesia. This potential is also supported by an increase in internet users in Indonesia. “However, the increase in the platform economy also means the increase of informal workers in Indonesia. Thus, more workers are exposed to the precarious situation,” Yuana explained.
At the end of the session, Yuana emphasized that in supporting the development of the platform economy, feedback from the affected workers must also be listened to, not only policymakers and significant stakeholders. “If the platform economy becomes the future of work, it must always be understood that the human dimension is our main focus so we can work under the principle of humane labour and social justice rather than just profit,” Cheryll added.
