There are some 180,000 freelancers in Singapore as at 2016. These include insurance agents, private hire car drivers, hawkers or stall-holders, and private tutors. There are also signs that more young people are joining the workforce as freelancers. In Grab Singapore, 20 to 30 per cent of its drivers are aged below 30, while in Uber Singapore the share is around 25 per cent.
According to a Maybank Kim Eng report in October 2017, Singapore's growing gig economy has likely cushioned the negative impact of a weak job market, indicating that the increasing proportion of Singapore's labour force is taking part in this thriving gig economy.
With the trajectory of freelancing set to become a dominant form of employment in the future, how would this affect companies and workers? How could the Labour Movement Network better support this growing pool of working people in areas of job protection and sustainable career?
