Wang Yiming: The social value and important contribution of flexible employment

Zhongxin Jingwei Client June 18 Title: "Wang Yiming: The Social Value and Important Contribution of Flexible Employment"

　　Author Wang Yiming (Vice Chairman, China Center for International Economic Exchanges)

　　In recent years, with the sudden rise of the digital economy, flexible employment positions such as takeaway riders, online ride-hailing drivers, and couriers have emerged, covering industries and groups that have been expanding, the types of forms have become increasingly diverse, and the scale of employees has expanded rapidly, and has changed from the "picking up the slack" of formal employment to an important part of social employment. Flexible employment has played an irreplaceable role in increasing labor participation rate, enhancing employment elasticity, and increasing the income of middle- and low-income families, and has made significant contributions to stabilizing employment and ensuring people's livelihood.

　　Flexible employment has become an important channel for absorbing the employment of difficult groups. Flexible employment has low entry and exit barriers, large employment capacity, flexibility and inclusiveness, which is an important way for groups with employment difficulties to achieve employment. For example, among the takeaway riders on the Meituan platform in 2019, 257,000 people were poor people in Lika, of which 253,000 people achieved poverty alleviation, a proportion of 98.4%; more than half of Didi's online ride-hailing drivers were migrant workers in the city, and 1 in every 15 people was a poor person in Lika. According to relevant statistics, the scale of flexible employment in China has reached 200 million in 2019, of which the number of people employed on Internet platforms has reached 78 million.

　　Flexible employment has become an important source of income for low- and middle-income families. Flexible employment personnel often come from low- and middle-income families, most of whom are migrants from agriculture, and income through flexible employment is the main source of their household income. For example, in 2019, among the drivers of the Didi platform, married online ride-hailing drivers accounted for 84.1%, of which more than 80% need to raise minor children, and 21.1% of drivers are the only employed people in the family, and driving online car-hailing has become the main source of income for them to maintain their family livelihood. SF's inter-city business and SF capacity platforms provide livelihoods and income sources for about 1.2 million people with flexible employment.

　　Flexible employment has become an important way to improve the efficiency of labor and services. The Internet platform subdivides "work" into a number of specific "tasks" and awards contracts to flexible employment personnel, effectively improving labor efficiency. Through the Internet platform, the rapid search and matching of supply and demand information is realized, which solves the problem of information asymmetry and can realize time-sharing and segmented appointment consumption, which greatly improves service efficiency. Digital technology can also connect raw material suppliers, intermediate service providers, etc. with the final sales network, creating more personalized customized services for customers and better meeting customer needs.

　　The epidemic has highlighted the important role of flexible employment in "stabilizing employment". The sudden outbreak of the new crown pneumonia has caused an unprecedented impact on China's economy and society, and has also brought unprecedented pressure on employment and people's livelihood. Under the impact of the epidemic, the service industries such as catering, transportation, and accommodation were once suspended in a large area, and flexible employment personnel such as takeaway riders, online ride-hailing drivers, and couriers became "ferrymen" to maintain the normal operation of the city. In the first half of 2020, the Meituan platform added 1.386 million new takeaway riders. These flexible jobs have shown great resilience and played an important role in ensuring market supply and maintaining order in social life.

　　From the perspective of development trends, the digital technology revolution will accelerate the digitalization and intelligent transformation of the industry, and give birth to new industrial ecology and employment methods. We should follow the trend, encourage and support the development of new formats and models supported by the Internet platform, improve flexible employment support policies, strengthen vocational training for flexible employment personnel, explore the establishment of a social security system that adapts to flexible employment, protect the rights and interests of flexible employment personnel, especially "takeaway brothers" and other workers, and enhance the sense of gain, happiness and security of flexible employment personnel. (Zhongxin Jingwei APP)

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