China can’t afford to ignore its army of gig workers

Part-time and gig roles have become more prevalent as full-time employment deteriorates.

- Juliana Liu

Some 200 million people in China, or 40 per cent of the urban labour force, are stuck in the gig economy. Policymakers should waste no time in creating the necessary framework to improve conditions for them, the writer says.

(PHOTO: AFP)

Pivoting to a tech-driven growth model after the collapse of the property sector is a sensible move for China.

The strategy has helped Beijing win a trade truce with Washington. But it may take years for the country’s industrial giants to mature enough to create enough jobs.

In the meantime, some 200 million people equivalent to about 40 per cent of the urban labour force are stuck in the gig economy.

That experience lies at the core of writer Hu Anyan's bestselling memoir, I Deliver Parcels In Beijing, a raw, darkly comical work newly available in English. Policymakers must move more quickly and decisively with reforms to support this large and powerful group of consumers that the slowing economy can’t afford to do without.

The book takes readers behind the scenes of an e-commerce worker’s daily grind, in an echo of Anthony Bourdain’s restaurant industry account, Kitchen Confidential. It affirms the need for Beijing to give legal protections, health insurance and social security benefits to these workers. It’s an idea that is likely to find support from Alibaba Group, JD.com Inc and Meituan, a trio of delivery giants trying to add drivers as they battle for market share. They are already offering more benefits than mandated by the state.