A higher than average number of gig workers in one of China’s four tier-one cities has become apparent to residents of Guangzhou at a time the city’s gross domestic product growth is slowing and its economic structures are changing. Around 19 per cent of the workforce in the capital city of Guangdong, China’s top provincial economy and top exporter, have turned to work in flexible contracts, such as food delivery riders, live-streaming broadcasters, ride-hailing drivers and casual domestic helpers, according to a survey released by Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou) earlier this month. The figure is higher than the national level of 14.3 per cent, according to the government-backed news website Sfccn.
The results are based on a survey of 3,000 households last year. The city has a population of about 18.8 million. Men dominate the takeaway rider, courier and ride-hailing sectors, according to the survey, with an average age of 39 and 62 hours worked per week. More than two thirds working as nannies, security guards and housekeepers are women, with an average age of 57. Workers within the e-commerce streaming industry are aged 31 on average, working about 45 hours a week.
Flexible employment is a term that has frequently appeared in Beijing’s government work reports in recent years. And while it reflects China’s shift toward service sectors and the new economy, it is also partly used to gauge economic growth momentum. The survey warned that gig workers, with many forced to enter the sector after being laid off, have more sense of insecurity as they have to pay their own social security contributions and might lose their job at any time.
Guangzhou’s GDP grew by just 2 per cent in the first three quarters, compared to the national growth of 4.8 per cent. Last year, 84.1 per cent of local GDP growth came from the services sector, compared to 15 per cent from industries, according to Guangzhou’s statistics bureau. Nationwide, the number of gig workers is estimated to have surpassed 200 million, according to the National Development and Reform Commission. The surplus of flexible workers has been reported in some cities in the food delivery or ride-hailing industries, resulting in longer working hours and lower hourly incomes. In Guangzhou, electric bikes, which are often used for deliveries, have seen a rapid proliferation, with around 6 million registered as of July.
