According to Gig Economy Data Hub 2019 (a partnership between the Cornell University Induatrial of Labour Relations School and the Future of Work Initiative), Gig Workers are defined as non-traditional jobs consisting of income-earning activities besides the conventional, long-term employer-employee relationships. Many definitions can be loosely defined in the work arrangement of gig work. The most common would be working without jobs. Conventional staff have a long-term employer-employee relationship in which the worker is paid by the hour or year, earning a monthly salary. Besides that regular process, work is either temporary or project-based; staff are hired to complete a particular task, for a certain time duration. Generally, they have an employer but are commissioned by a different organisation. These are called alternative or nonstandard work arrangements, which includes freelancing, temporary agency work, self-employment, and subcontracted work. The typical characteristics of the gig economy are being self-employed, having limited contracts yet multiple sources of income.
In Malaysia, the gig economy has been recognised to be a new economic source and is part of the Rancangan Malaysia ke-12 (RMK12). This was made official by our Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad during his speech at the Parliament on 22nd October 2019. He added that the gig economy is the new approach of jobs, many parties shall benefit but the government should have better policies to protect the workers’ privileges. The 2020 Budget, which was announced by the Finance Minister earlier on October 11 this year, also mentioned that the government is also committed to this new work method. The gig economy will impact more on youth employment as it is connotated to have more flexi-hours, which in return is better suited to the lifestyle and life aspiration. This phenomenon will be more prevailing when most current conventional jobs shall be taken over by algorithm and technology.
