In the past, gigs or informal work were thought of as food and parcel delivery riders as well as e-hailing drivers who sign up with different platforms and work on them full time. But the gig economy now encompasses other occupations.

Although gig work is still associated with p hailing and e hailing workers, others such as doctors, teachers and lecturers, and electricians are also now beginning to work out similar work arrangements by offering their services.

For example, doctors perform locums at different clinics, while teachers may offer tuition for side income and lecturers may be contracted to do work outside their college and electricians like chargemen work for four or five factories at a time.

Certain human resources and manpower experts contend that this form of employment is now the norm and the trend for many jobs in the future will be ‘to sign contracts for employment with different employers’.

This form of informal work arrangements have become an integral part of the economy after the Covid 19 pandemic made wide and varied changes to how people go about their work and how companies operate.

These experts state that since gig work will be the wave of the future even for professionals, they urge the government to impose rules and regulations and monitor the gig economy to ensure that workers have adequate social protection.

-THE MALAYSIA VOICE