Digital labour platforms have become increasingly significant in the digital economy, where automation, digitalisation, and platform-based work are reshaping employment. In Malaysia, these platforms are a key source of income for many young workers, offering flexible arrangements outside traditional employment. However, this shift has also led to the exclusion of social security protection. Young workers, who are often new to the labour market and lack stable employment, are especially vulnerable to risks such as illness, injury, or income insecurity. The motivation for this study arises from the urgent need to examine how Malaysia’s existing frameworks leave young platform workers unprotected, despite their growing presence in the workforce. This study aims to (1) investigate the regulatory gaps in social security protection for young workers on digital labour platforms, and (2) explore potential improvements for their protection. Using a socio-legal qualitative approach, the study involved content analysis and semi-structured interviews with ten workers aged 15 to 24. The contribution of this research is its youth-centred socio-legal analysis, which provides empirical evidence and policy recommendations to strengthen protections for young workers. The study underscores the need for inclusive regulations to build a more equitable and sustainable digital economy.
Ahmad, N. (2021). Gig workers: The new employment form in the new economy. Ulum Islamiyyah, 33(S4), 131–145. https://doi.org/10.33102/uij.vol33nos4.419
Arora, P., & Thompson, L. H. (2019). Crowdsourcing as a platform for digital labor unions. International Journal of Communication, 12, 2314–2332. https://repub.eur.nl/pub/120617/
Berg, J., Cherry, M. A., & Rani, U. (2019). Digital labour platforms: A need for international regulation. Revista de Economía Laboral, 16(2), 104–128. https://doi.org/10.21114/rel.2019.02.05
Gray, G. C. (2009). The responsibilization strategy of health and safety: Neo-liberalism and the reconfiguration of individual responsibility for risk. British Journal of Criminology, 49(3), 326–342. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azp004
Hawley, A. J. (2018). Regulating labour platforms, the data deficit. European Journal of Government and Economics (EJGE), 7(1), 5-23.
International Labour Organization. (2021). World employment and social outlook, The role of digital labour platforms in transforming the world of work. Publications Production Unit (PRODOC) https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/---publ/documents/publication/wcms_771749.pdf
International Labour Organization. (2023). Labor rights: A guide to workers’ rights and labor standards. https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/labour-rights/lang--en/index.htm
Izzati, N. R. (2018). Exploring legal landscape of Indonesia’s on-demand transportation: Case of Go-Jek and the workers social protection. SSRN. https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4146661
Kaine, S., & Josserand, E. (2019). The organisation and experience of work in the gig economy. Journal of Industrial Relations, 61(4), 479–501. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022185619865480
Lee, C. S., Yang, Y., Low, K. Y., Chia, H. K., & Ma, L. (2024). Doing good for others or self: A study of crowdsourced translation on digital labor platforms. Computers in Human Behavior Reports, 13, 100373. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chbr.2024.100373
Schmidt, F. (2017). Digital Labour Markets in the Platform Economy Mapping the Political Challenges of Crowd Work and Gig Work. Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung https://library.fes.de/pdf-files/wiso/13164.pdf
Sharma, K, S. (2012). Malaysia: Updating and improving the social protection index (cofinanced by the Republic of Korea e-Asia and knowledge partnership fund). Asian Development Bank. https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/project-documents/44152-012-reg-tacr-11.pdf
Uchiyama, Y., Furuoka, F., & Md. Akhir, M. N. (2022). Gig workers, social protection and labour market inequality: Lessons from Malaysia. Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia, 56(3), 165–184. http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/JEM-2022-5603-09
Wood, A. J., Graham, M., Lehdonvirta, V., & Hjorth, I. (2019). Good gig, bad gig: Autonomy and algorithmic control in the global gig economy. Work, Employment and Society, 33(1), 56–75. https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017018785616
Azman, A. F., Razak, S. S. A., & Teo, I. E. T. R. (2025). Vulnerable and Unprotected: Social Security Gaps Among Young Workers on Digital Labour Platforms. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 15(9), 160-169.
Copyright: © 2025 The Author(s)
Published by Knowledge Words Publications (www.kwpublications.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
