- 20/05/2024
- Category: Press Release
Yogyakarta (8/5/2024) – The rapid flow of digital transformation has changed the landscape of today’s work, where the types of work and methods of implementation have become increasingly diverse. This phenomenon also occurs in Indonesia, affecting everyone from various social classes. Center for Digital Society (CfDS) UGM participated in discussing this issue in the 111th Digital Future Discussion (Difussion) entitled “Bridging Hope and Reality of Middle Class Working Conditions in Indonesia”. This activity was held on Wednesday (8/5) by presenting Arifatus Sholekhah, a CfDS Research Officer, and Rizma Afian Azhiim, a part of the Campus Workers Union, in the event. The event was broadcast live through the official YouTube account of CfDS UGM at https://www.youtube.com/live/fX7x8TAcu-Q?si=zij7a4tDgIhpFIUj.
Arifatus explained the phenomenon of the increasing number of freelancers in Indonesia, which reached 4.32 million people in 2020. This is driven by the growing accessibility of the internet, business needs, and platform upgrades. The presence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) also produces new types of jobs in various sectors and allows the middle class to participate and select these job options. He identified freelancers as workers who work according to the project they intend to work on, such as content creators, online ride-hailing drivers, UI and UX freelancers, and so on.
Arifatus views employment in the digital age as a dilemma. On the one hand, digital work offers job independence, new opportunities, and flexibility. On the other hand, digital work brings uncertainty and anxiety, job vulnerability, and labor rights issues. In response to this situation, various actors in Indonesia need to contribute to addressing the problems of middle-class workers in the digital era. For example, the government needs to establish policies related to wages for flexible hour jobs and emphasize policies on employment protection, insurance, and social security. The private sector needs to provide job protection guarantees for its employees and establish fair employment contracts. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the general public can participate in spreading awareness about the vulnerability of workers in the digital era and support the formation of labor unions. The media and academics are potentially able to disseminate information about labor rights and echo the issue of labor vulnerability through research and dissemination.
The next speaker, Rizma, discussed the structural challenges to obtaining decent and stable employment. Rizma said that there are challenges in the political structure of the government, such as changes in labor norms after the Job Creation Law was issued, the government’s policy focus on building industries that support downstreaming but do not absorb much labor, and the transformation of wage policies that abolish the Sectoral Minimum Wage and allow minimum wage increases to be ‘depressed’ below the cost of living for workers. He also explained challenges to the social structure of achieving decent and stable employment. These challenges include workers’ low understanding of the importance of unionization and workers’ right to collective bargaining, the labor market paradox (where the labor market tends to be monopsony and competition among workers for the highest achievements, wages, and positions continues to increase to alarming levels), and the education paradox (where educational institutions teach knowledge and skills that can be useful in the workplace without teaching workers’ rights and labor norms).
Rizma suggested several things that the middle class will be able to do to fight for decent and sustainable work. The people can organize labor and industrial relations lecture classes that are open to all majors and the general public, increase understanding of the importance of trade unions and the right to bargain in industrial relations, identify and map labor unions that are relevant to their sector of work as they enter the workforce, and join labor unions and take the time to participate in union studies, consolidations, and negotiations.
Regarding the issue of career development, Arifatus said that career development must be adjusted to the trend of the times and workers must remain aware of their rights and obligations. In addition to the workers’ point of view, the company’s point of view is also crucial. When faced with new trends and needs, companies need to strive to train and empower existing employees to become more skilled, instead of immediately choosing the path of layoffs and hiring new employees. Rizma also encourages workers to not only review their own position as a worker and the company they work for, but also to be sensitive to the position of the sector and the changes it is undergoing. “What is the concept of sustainable career development? If we are all in a precariat position, then the context of sustainability is, how much can we be agile to change? That is. Hone our skills. Sustainable career development is self-development that is capable of adapting to change,” Rizma emphasized.
Author: Carmelia Gaby Talia
Editor: Allysa Putri Rendry
