Fair incomes, safety nets, career progression urged for PHL workers

THE GOVERNMENT needs to ensure that gig workers receive fair and transparent earnings to unlock the full potential of the gig economy, market research company Ipsos said.

“The Philippine gig economy provides workers with a flexible and empowering source of income, presenting a dynamic avenue for economic growth,” Ipsos Strategy3 Principal Christine P. Dugay said at a briefing.

She said the government and gig platforms need to support such workers by ensuring fair and transparent earnings, investing in data systems, protecting workers, and offering skills development and career progression.

“(Workers) have to be provided breakdowns of earnings, bonuses, and deductions,” she added.

“There is really a need to standardize what we would call gig work principles,” she said, including defining base pay for gig workers.

“The government has to actually work with the gig platforms because they should see the pay structure … The government has to understand how they are defining base rates and what would be considered base pay,” she added.

She said that gig platforms can help by providing a detailed breakdown of earnings, bonuses, and deductions and adopting standardized definitions for base pay, search rates, and incentive schemes.

The Ipsos Gig Life PH study found that 64% of gig workers are actively planning for retirement, while 58% value access to healthcare.

“Given their preferences, we recommend there should actually be an improvement of social protection and retirement security for gig workers,” she said.

“We also are recommending that the government create benefits schemes. Gig workers want to be in control of their social protection; this is why you should allow them flexible app-based enrollments and contributions to enhance their social security,” she added. — Justine Irish D. Tabile