Our task now is clear: to ensure that technology and humanity do not walk on separate paths, but instead strengthen each other for a just and dignified future for all.
IN the midst of the clamor of modern progress, we often forget that behind every app we touch, there is unseen human labor. Progress is not just about speed and efficiency; it’s about who grows alongside it. “A nation is not measured by the height of its towers, but by how tightly it holds the most fragile.” While we enjoy fast services at our fingertips, let’s ask: have we been just to those who drive this technological wheel, with their nearly exhausted strength and hope? Today’s concern is a call to the heart—that progress without justice will only create a divide, not a bridge. It’s time to open our eyes, hearts, and make room for solidarity that enlightens.
On May 20, 2025, thousands of online motorcycle taxi (ojol) drivers in Indonesia took to the streets, not to deliver passengers or parcels, but to fight for their rights and livelihoods. This action was not just a routine protest, but a serious warning about the worsening working conditions within the digital economy ecosystem that has long been touted as an inclusive solution for job creation. The promises of flexibility and easy job opportunities have turned into a new poverty trap. A study from the University of Indonesia reveals that the average daily net income of ojol drivers, after deducting operational costs (fuel, vehicle maintenance, food), is between IDR 70,000 and IDR 90,000 per day. On a monthly basis, their income ranges from IDR 2 million to IDR 2.7 million—below the Provincial Minimum Wage (UMP) in many areas, including Jakarta, where the UMP has reached IDR 5 million.
This issue sharpens further when looking at how the value of the drivers’ labor is divided between them and the application companies. In a trip with a fare of IDR 20,000, the app can take a cut of 20%-30%, or about IDR 4,000–IDR 6,000. This means that from every 10 orders, the company could gain IDR 40,000–IDR 60,000 without bearing the operational costs. Meanwhile, drivers are responsible for fuel, accident risks, vehicle damage, and high work pressure. This shows the uneven distribution of labor profits, with the biggest profits flowing to companies that bear minimal direct risks.
The incentive schemes that were once attractive have now become tools of control. Programs like “affordable fares” encourage cheaper rates for customers, but make drivers’ income even smaller. At the same time, incentives can only be earned if drivers meet high order targets within tight timeframes—forcing them to work more than 12 hours a day. Drivers not only lose control over their working hours, but also over the value of their work. In a relationship called “partnership,” in reality, only one side controls the system: the app companies.
This mass strike is a reaction to the accumulation of long-standing injustice. On one hand, app companies continue to report valuation growth worth trillions of rupiahs, receive foreign investment, and expand. On the other hand, drivers—the backbone of this service—are forced to choose between working until exhaustion or being unable to pay rent. This is not just about profit-sharing, but about exploitation wrapped in the narrative of technology and innovation. When drivers are paid poorly for the sake of business efficiency, technology is not a tool for liberation, but a new invisible instrument of oppression.
Inequality Behind Technological Progress
The digital economy, with all its conveniences, cannot hide the fact that this system creates a new caste in the workforce—flexible workers with no protection. Ojol drivers, working under an algorithmic system without formal contracts, are a clear example of victims of structural inequality. The lack of social security, leave, and benefits makes this group highly vulnerable, especially in the current economic crisis. When income declines and the price of basic necessities rises, there is no protection mechanism they can rely on. They are digital economy workers who are needed, but not recognized.
Behind all of this, there is a deeper root: the low quality of education and limited access to formal jobs. Most ojol drivers come from lower educational backgrounds, not because they don’t want to pursue higher education, but because the existing education system has failed to accommodate the social-economic realities of the lower classes. Expensive higher education costs, the lack of job skills training, and limited vocational education make many graduates ill-prepared to face competition in the formal job market, which demands advanced digital, communication, and problem-solving skills. They end up in the informal sector or gig economy, offering quick money but no guarantee for the future.
This situation reveals the paradox of welfare: a country that claims economic growth and digital transformation, but fails to prosper its key actors. Informal work can no longer be seen as a stepping stone because, in reality, it becomes a permanent residence for millions who cannot break into the formal job market. Without serious reforms in education and labor policies, ojol drivers and other informal workers will continue to be trapped in the cycle of structural poverty. Their survival cannot only rely on daily incentives from apps, but requires long-term policy interventions that ensure job security and social mobility.
The State is Absent?
In facing the surge of economic uncertainty and industrial turmoil in the gig economy sector, the role of the state must go beyond being a facilitator—it must be an active regulator that guarantees social justice and the sustainability of workers’ livelihoods. Unfortunately, Indonesia is still lagging in building a legal framework that protects platform workers like ojol drivers. The government seems more focused on driving digital economic growth but is neglecting the quality of labor relations that are created within it. The existing regulations fail to address the challenges of a time where the lines between formal and informal work are increasingly blurred.
Countries that have moved forward, such as Spain, have set laws recognizing delivery drivers as permanent employees, not partners. This requires app companies to provide social security, minimum wage, and work protections. The UK has also ruled that Uber drivers are “workers,” entitled to minimum wage, paid leave, and other protections. Even in California, despite legal pushback, the state introduced Assembly Bill 5, requiring platform workers to be treated as employees if they economically rely on the company.
Such regulations are crucial in creating a fair and respectful partnership model. In Indonesia, the term “partner” used by platform companies is, in fact, an illusion of equality. In reality, drivers have no control over the algorithm, cannot negotiate fares, and are not given access to fair grievance mechanisms. True partnership should be based on transparency, balance of rights and obligations, and legally protected dialogue spaces. The state must step in to bridge this gap and regulate it so that companies do not act arbitrarily under the guise of a “new business model.”
* Payamta, Faculty of Economics, UNS