Vulnerable Flexibility: An Analysis of the Representation of Gig Workers' Sustainability in Indonesian Digital Media
Keywords:
Gig economy Algorithmic management social protection cultural representation decolonial work IndonesiaAbstract
The digital transformation of Indonesia’s economy has generated a new labor ecosystem known as the gig economy, where online drivers, logistics couriers, and digital freelancers perform flexible yet precarious work through algorithmic platforms. While this model offers autonomy and efficiency, it also constructs new forms of dependency, income instability, and the absence of social protection. Beyond the economic dimension, the gig economy also represents a profound cultural shift in how work, identity, and value are defined in the digital era. This study examines how the sustainability of gig workers’ livelihoods is represented within Indonesia’s digital media landscape, analyzing tensions between dominant narratives of digital competitiveness and counter-narratives of injustice, exhaustion, and collective resistance. Using a qualitative Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) approach, the research employs Fairclough’s three-dimensional framework textual, discursive, and socio-political to analyze online news, social media posts, and protest videos from 2023 to 2025. The findings reveal that public narratives often glorify flexibility as a sign of progress while obscuring the cultural and structural vulnerabilities faced by gig workers. Conversely, counter
narratives generated by workers express cultural solidarity and digital resistance against algorithmic exploitation. By situating the gig economy within Indonesia’s socio-cultural context, this study argues that sustainability in digital labor must also involve cultural recognition and decolonial perspectives on work, identity, and justice. Hence, policy reforms must integrate workers’ lived experiences, media narratives, and cultural meanings to ensure fair and sustainable digital transformation.
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