Southeast Asia’s Gig Economy Regulatory Divide

Nguyen Thi Giang of the Banking Academy of Vietnam analyzed 127 policy documents spanning 2015 to 2024, concluding that effective platform oversight requires a mix of legal classification, social protection, and platform accountability. Rather than forcing gig workers into standard employment categories, governments are building systems that reflect their own administrative limits.

Singapore leads with a "managed flexibilisation" model, highlighted by the Platform Workers Act 2024, which mandates specific protections like work injury compensation without full reclassification. Malaysia, meanwhile, relies on a "coordinated transition" where multiple agencies collaborate to expand social insurance. Vietnam adopts "controlled experimentation," using pilots and incremental decrees to manage a sector defined by high informality. The research emphasizes that without robust enforcement infrastructure, ambitious legislative reforms risk remaining symbolic gestures. Success in the region depends on building portable benefits and reliable data reporting systems that align with each nation’s unique bureaucratic reality.