Digital labour platforms can advance social justice by focussing on worker welfare

The rise of the platform economy as a job creation engine has also heightened the need for an effective and sustainable social protection infrastructure. The ILO, in its commitment to advancing social justice and promoting decent work, has closely monitored the evolution of the global economy and the challenges and opportunities emerging from digital labour platforms since 2015. At the International Labour Conference in 2019, The ILO Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work, laid importance on the need to respond to challenges and opportunities in the realm of work, including platform work.

In due course, with the support and interest of member states of the ILO in 2022, a tripartite meeting of experts with social partners was organized in Geneva followed by the ILO's Governing Body requesting the office to prepare a normative gap analysis to assess how well the existing International Labour Standards can ensure decent working conditions for gig and platform workers.

After discussions and deliberations in March 2023, the ILO’s Governing Body decided to hold a double discussion on "decent work in the platform economy," and the office is actively working towards developing different documents in preparation for this meeting. The double discussion will commence at the 113th session of the International Labour Conference in 2025, with the possibility of adopting the first global normative instrument in this area in 2026.

It must be noted that digital labour platforms present several opportunities in job creation, including those for women, persons with disabilities, and migrants. According to the ILO’s 2021, World Employment and Social Outlook Report, globally, the number of online platforms rose from 142 in 2010 to over 777 in 2020. Some studies suggest that the number of platform workers in the world will increase from 43 million in 2018 to 78 million in 2023.

While there are several opportunities that emerge from this new form of work, on the other hand, its development also presents a challenge to employers, workers, and governments, notably in terms of ensuring decent working conditions and adequate labour and social protection, as well as fair competition among enterprises. In the context of social protection, the ILO New Delhi office has taken several steps in advancing the extension of social protection with the Central Government and some State Governments along with the support of the ILO’s social partners and platform companies.

I am glad to see several of your present here today and thank you for your continued support in this important journey. With this context, I take this opportunity to congratulate the OMI Foundation in hosting the National Dialogue: Social Protection & Sustainable Welfare in Platform Economy, that aims to unite industry stakeholders, workers, and policymakers to discuss and implement sustainable welfare solutions. At this event today, I am glad that I can participate in the launch of ‘Social Protection in India’s Platform Economy: unpacking supply dynamics’.

I come to understand that this report is an outcome of engagement with 14 crucial stakeholders from the industry and the government. The platform businesses studied are across four sectors, including passenger mobility, Hyperlocal Delivery, E-Commerce, and Home Services. The platform businesses impact the lives of over 4.5 million workers across several hundreds of cities and towns in India.

The ILO welcomes this study that further contributes to understanding this new form of work and gives us a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities of extending social protection to digital and platform workers. I take this opportunity to emphasise the importance of extending social protection to all gig and platform workers in four aspects:

1. Adequate social protection for platform and gig workers is key for their effective contribution to a productive workforce.

2. Social protection must constitute a set of policy mechanisms to build the capabilities of workers to engage in today’s and tomorrow’s world of work, including for disadvantaged categories of workers.

3. As we delve into the policy conversation to ensuring adequate social protection for platform workers is closely linked to broader issues related to the regulation of these forms of work, including the correct classification of employment status, broader issues around labour protection (e.g. adequate pay, working time regulation, occupational safety and health, employment protection) and ensuring the transparency of algorithms and data to protect workers’ rights.

4. Lastly, improving social protection coverage for platform workers is also very much an integral element of the G20’s commitment to provide universal access to comprehensive and sustainable social protection- India successfully negotiated the extension of social protection coverage with other G20 nations demonstrating its commitment to protect worker rights.

Digital labour platforms provide new opportunities for economic growth and job creation and have the potential to contribute to the realization of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goal 8, which is to “promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all”. The ILO recognizes the benefits of technological advancements, digitalization and the opportunities of platform work that creates decent jobs and sustainable enterprises for the Indian economy.

I wish you all a productive discussion and a positive outcome in advancing the discourse on issues related to the platform economy and look forward to continuing our work with the OMI Foundation and the other stakeholders present here today.