DESPITE the perception of enjoying greater freedom, workers in the “gig economy”, a fancy term for freelancing, said they worry more about their survival and future without the benefits and security that come with a full-time job.

Five of the eight gig workers The Malaysian Insight met said they look forward to the day when they have a permanent work arrangement either by starting their own business or by getting a stable job with benefits.

“I am doing this while waiting for my former manager to offer me another job,” said Sajwan Ismail, a 31-year-old who freelances “full time” for a top online food delivery company.

Freelancers are growing in number, with the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) noting that jobs in the “informal sector”, which includes freelancers, have grown faster at a rate of 31% compared with traditional, formal sector jobs.

Economists, meanwhile worry that the growing trend carries long-term economic and social risks, as gig workers have no job security, no medical coverage and none of the benefits that come from an EPF scheme and reduced savings in old age.

Theoretically, gig workers have more freedom to choose what to do, when to work and who to work for. But freelancers told The Malaysian Insight the reality is not as glossy as it’s made up to be.

For one, they end up working just as many hours, if not more, than similar workers with permanent positions.

They also said they earned less for the amount of work they did as compared with when they did the same work as permanent employees.

The gig economy can include informal-sector workers, such as small-scale food operators, agricultural workers and taxi and lorry drivers.

In its 2017 annual report, EPF estimates that there are 13.7 million workers in the informal sector, as compared with 6.8 million workers in the formal sector who contribute to the fund.

The rising growth in such jobs is forcing policy makers, economists and businesses to rethink labour laws to prevent exploitation and to ensure that they have adequate social protections, such as retirement savings and injury and disability protection.

Of the eight freelancers TMI spoke to, half said they were able to put away some retirement savings. The rest did not make enough from their “gigs” for retirement.

“I don’t have EPF, so I have to put my savings into ASB (Amanah Saham Bumiputera),” said Nabil Haikal, 30, who became a delivery rider after he was retrenched from a major infrastructure firm.

“In this line of work, you have to be smart and save your money in different places.”

Bare survival

The delivery riders met by TMI said they are able to pull in between RM3,000 and RM6,000 per month, depending on how many trips they made a day.

Abu Husammuddin, who quit his factory job to become a rider, said he could make RM6,000 per month as long as he was able to make 20 trips per day. To do this, the 22 year-old works an average of 10 to 12 hours per day, including weekends.

“I’m not married so it’s okay. Plus, I’m pushing it because I want to save up money to open my own business one day. This is not something I’m doing forever.”

For most of the other freelancers, the take-home income is between RM2,000 and RM4,000 per month.

“I earn about RM2,000 to RM3,000 per month on average. It is barely enough, but I always make sure that I get on top of my bills and rent,” said Azimah, who is in digital marketing.

“No car loan because I ride a motorcycle. I alternate eating out and cooking for sustenance. No shopping sprees and holidays, unfortunately.”

But despite its challenges, Azimah said she is happy so far being a freelancer as she hopes to build a big enough network of clients to one day open her own firm.

Venodh Selvam has worked in accountancy field for the past seven years, almost all of it as either a full-time or part-time freelancer.

He does not regret leaving that kind of work behind for a full-time permanent position which just started this year.

“I now get EPF, my medical expenses and as well that of my family is covered, I get Socso and some other allowances as well as fixed monthly income,” said the 29-year-old.

As a freelancer, he often did accounting jobs that took eight hours a day, and one to 1½ weeks to complete.

“And the payment for those types of accounts for a medium-sized firm was only RM200, if you’re lucky. Sometimes the pay is RM150. If you’re extremely lucky, you get a client that hires you every year to do their accounts and pays you well. But is very, very rare.”

The more likely scenario in his field is that once clients are done with a freelance accountant, they look for a cheaper one the following year.

“And it’s getting worse because companies want to cut costs, so the pay for such jobs are getting lower. I barely survived as a freelancer. It’s hard to survive even if you are full time.” – April 10, 2019.