Gig Economy: Why the Western perspective is different to Southeast Asia and why that matters

Daniel Austin is an MSc International Management (MIM) graduate and founder of gigit, a Thailand-based platform focused on the country’s informal gig economy. He argues that the Western discussion on the gig economy is the wrong viewpoint.

In 2021, in a landmark case, UK courts ruled that Uber drivers were to be classified as “workers” rather than independent self-employed contractors. This case changed the discussion around the gig economy globally. This case confirmed what many critics of gig work had long argued, that gig workers were having their employment rights and protections stripped from them in favour of the flexibility of work these tech platforms were enabling.

However, if we contrast this western framing with the perspective of workers in South East Asia (SEA), the picture is more distorted. The western lens assumes workers are losing rights and protections and that they are stepping down from what they previously had. But in SEA in many cases, these tech platforms are actually helping workers step up, opening them up to new opportunities.

What Makes Southeast Asia's Gig Economy Structurally Different

In the US, if someone leaves a full-time job or is made redundant and begins driving for Uber, they may lose employment benefits that accompanied their previous job such as health insurance, paid leave and a regular reliable income. For those in the US and other Western countries, this is a major point of tension and reflects a genuine concern about the relationship between formal full-time work and gig work. However, in most of SEA, where an estimated 244 million individuals are engaged in informal employment (representing 78.6% of the workforce), that trade-off does not apply in the same way as formal full-time employment was never the baseline for most workers. The OECD notes that in Thailand 21.1 million people - representing 52.7% of the total workforce - were informally employed as of 2025. In Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar and the Philippines, informal employment exceeds 70% of the working population whilst in Cambodia, it’s estimated to be 90%. While Western economies typically rely on a formal, employer-driven labour market, this structure is actually the exception rather than the global norm, especially in the context of SEA.

The Formalisation Ladder: How Gig Platforms Are Lifting People Up

A useful model for comparing SEA vs the West’s perspective to the gig economy is the job formalisation ladder. In the West, where the prevailing employment type is formal work, gig work is seen as a movement down the ladder. In SEA, gig work sits above informal street trading, subsistence farming and unregistered day labour, the relevant movement on the ladder is upward, not downward.

The data supports this model, according to research carried out by Grab in collaboration with The International Labour Organization, around 45% of riders had no income prior to accessing work through the platform. This is not a workforce supplementing existing salaries or picking up gig work between formal jobs, this is a workforce accessing earned income through a structured digital platform, often for the very first time.

Thailand as a Case Study in Gig Economy Transition

Thailand sits in an interesting position in the region, as it is further along its development curve than some of its neighbours, with a growing middle class and an increasingly urban workforce. But despite these factors, over half of the country's labour market is informal. This trend may well accelerate as slow economic growth forces medium and large Thai companies to reduce full-time hiring. This move is evidenced in the 2022–2024 data, which saw permanent part-time roles spike from 6% to 42% and temporary or contract positions climb from 4% to 28%. Against this backdrop, gig platforms such as Grab, gigit, LineMAN and ecommerce platforms like Shopee and Lazada have become significant income channels for many in the country. According to the OECD, it was noted that tackling informal work remains one of the country’s major labour market challenges, with digital platforms offering a potential pathway to enabling economic participation of informal workers through a more structured framework.

Where the Western & SEA Models Converge: Shared Risks, Different Stakes

Of course, SEA’s gig economy is not without its problems; it shares similar challenges to the West. Most SEA governments have not issued comprehensive policies around the gig economy with worker classification and regulations still remaining unclear under traditional labour frameworks. This leaves gig workers in a legal grey area, vulnerable to platform fee changes, algorithms and sudden income drops without any formal recourse.

Despite the risks, the biggest difference is the stakes. In the UK or US, turning to gig work instead of a full-time job may feel like a step down, yet even then, Western countries often possess some form of social safety net beneath the ladder. But in countries like Thailand and others across SEA, access to earning opportunities could be considered a critical step up the ladder where, in many cases, no safety net exists at all.

Localised Discussion Is the Right Starting Point

The gig economy has been the subject of much debate over the years, as it has transformed the nature of work across the world. In many countries in SEA, the gig economy has allowed participants to build small thriving businesses and has opened up new earning opportunities for millions, where earning opportunities may previously have been few and far between.

When considering its social, economic and political implications, a one size fits all westernized perspective is the wrong approach. Any debate or discussion around its impacts must be grounded in the localised context of the country in which it operates. Because in SEA, the gig economy is not a regression from something better. For millions, it is the something better.

About Daniel Austin

Daniel Austin is an alumnus of Strathclyde Business School, where he completed both his BA and MSc degrees. A former management consultant turned entrepreneur, he is the founder of gigit, a Thailand-based platform focused on digitising and formalising the country’s informal gig economy.