SINGAPORE (July 29): In a Telegram group chat for Deliveroo riders, a member took a screenshot of his earnings generated through the food delivery platform. The screenshot shows that he makes more than $4,000 a month, similar to what many executives would earn. Singapore’s monthly median wage is about $4400, according to data released by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on Nov 29, 2018. But, the trade-off for the somewhat lucrative gig is long hours on the road almost daily.

The rider’s account is not an exception among other gig economy workers —loosely described as individuals who work on a short-term or freelance basis instead of being permanently employed. The ridehailing and online food delivery service sectors form a big part of the gig economy. Other private-hire drivers and food delivery service riders share similar experiences of long hours, but they still feel that they do earn more money than full-time jobs.

Take the case of 47-year-old Danny, who drives between 12 and 15 hours a day for more than five days a week. He brings home more than $5,000 a month. While the hours are gruelling, he says it is better than any job he could get without a tertiary education qualification. He was a sales agent for a decade and did a stint in construction before that.

Similarly Farah, who has three young children, chose to become a food delivery rider so that she could spend more time with them, while helping out with the household expenses. The 27-year-old says she makes nearly $2,000 a month by putting in six to eight hours a day delivering food on her scooter. “It is not easy to do a job with unstable income and no basic pay. But I don’t see any [other options that pay a similar amount of income] for now and will find a more stable job only when the children go to primary school,” she says.

A majority of gig economy workers <i>The Edge Singapore</i> spoke to say they are earning more on the platforms than in their previous occupations, emphasising the incentives these platforms dish out. In fact, nominated Member of Parliament Walter Theseira has observed that gig economy workers earn comparable or better income than those who hold a polytechnic diploma.

But what about the long-term prospects for these gig economy workers?

Indeed, the long-term future of a growing number of gig economy workers is weighing on policymakers’ mind. At a dialogue held by the National University of Singapore’s Social Service Research Centre on July 18, Second Minister for Education Indranee Rajah said, “We are quite concerned about the gig economy, which gives a kind of shortterm income but, like you point out, it doesn’t build up your retirement reserves.” This was in reply to a member of the audience who noted that a number of Singaporeans from low-income families are gig workers doing freelance work that deprive them of the benefits of full-time job such as annual leave, insurance and Central Provision Fund (CPF) contribution, which may result in difficulty in securing housing or planning for retirement.

Steven Soh, senior business leader for RecruitFirst, agrees that the long-term prospects for gig workers are not great. “The nature of their contract may deprive most of them of insurance, medical benefits The gig appeal and performance bonuses, and they are not as protected as the rest of the salaried workers. It is really very much a short-term filler to earn some income. In the long run, they will certainly lose out in terms of earning relevant experiences, job exposure and CPF contributions,” he says.

Soh also points out that due to the volatile nature of these gig companies [that hire gig workers], some of these digital-enabled jobs tend to disappear as fast as they come appear. And with low barriers to entry, the gig workers are easily replaceable, resulting in a lack of job security.

Kelvin Seah, a lecturer at the department of economics at the National University of Singapore, says the opportunities for promotion are probably limited for gig workers, but some people may still prefer employment in the gig economy because of benefits such as the flexibility and freedom in choice of work as well as an opportunity to earn a higher income than an entry-level worker.

<i>Subscribers via PayPal can login and click <a href="https://www.theedgesingapore.com/issues/labour-market/when-sharing-becomes-uncaring" target="_blank">here</a> to read cover story "When sharing becomes uncaring" in The Edge Singapore (Issue 892, week of July 29) which is on sale this week</i>

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