Indonesia

Indonesia’s platform economy—based on workers completing short-term tasks through digital platforms—has been associated with rapid growth and significant contribution to the national economy. At the same time, platform work is associated with a rise in precarious and unfair working conditions.

To help address this, the global Fairwork project, which works to improve pay and conditions in platform economies across the world, has been joined by an Indonesian partner: the Center for Digital Society in the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta. 

The second round of Fairwork ratings for Indonesia evaluates 11 of the most prominent platforms in the country—Grab, Gojek, Maxim, InDriver, TravelokaEats, Shopeefood, Lalamove, Borzo, Paxel, Deliveree and Gobox—against the five global principles of Fairwork: Fair Pay, Fair Conditions, Fair Contracts, Fair Management, and Fair Representation.

Overall, the ratings reflect that there is still much to be done to ensure fairness in Indonesia’s platform economy. Our findings call for coordinated efforts and measures from regulatory bodies, platform companies, as well as workers and customers. We must ensure that the peculiarities of this emerging business model are not used as an excuse to create a sector that is unsustainable for Indonesian workers and society. We call on platforms, workers, customers, and the government to rethink and reimagine a better and fairer platform ecosystem for all.