Searching for a better job

Abstract

The conditions of gig workers, such as platform drivers, differ sharply between countries in central and peripheral capitalism. Working conditions with long working hours, low incomes and lack of social protection tend to be more severe for gig workers in peripheral than in central capitalism. This article draws on a survey of 290 drivers working for ride-hailing, food-delivery and courier platforms in one of the peripheral capitalist countries, namely Indonesia. It examines the precariousness of their working conditions in relation to the International Labour Organization’s Decent Work Indicators and concludes that of the ten decent work indicators, platform drivers only receive two. However, this decent work agenda has limitations: first, the decent work indicators have not been able to protect specific forms of work in digital labour; second, the minimum wage in decent work in Indonesia does not represent a living wage, so is rejected by many platform drivers; and third, the concept of decent work cannot be extended to cover future working conditions that are fair and without exploitation.