For the past 5 years, almost all of Ridhwan Danial, 29, has been on Singaporean routes when he drives to deliver goods up to 16 hours a day, 6 days a week. Working from technology platforms brings him a significant income, ranging from 4,600 to 5,400 USD per month (about 121 - 142 million VND), higher than many other traditional jobs.
The flexibility of delivery work helps Ridhwan to study and work at the same time, so he only considers this a temporary choice and has no intention of staying long-term. Ridhwan has just graduated from a two-year college program in business management and plans to continue studying at university in the same major from April next year.
He shared frankly: "If I had to do other part-time jobs, I think I would not have enough money to pay for tuition... If I hadn't had this delivery job, I would have nothing."
Ridhwan's story reflects the increasing popularity of technology platform workers in Singapore and globally, driven by flexibility, autonomy, regular income allocation and simple admission procedures. The preliminary report on the labor force in 2025 by the Ministry of Manpower of Singapore (MOM) shows that the number of workers who regularly work on technology platforms has increased from 67,200 people in 2024 to 71,600 people in 2025, with the proportion of people under 40 years old increasing slightly.
However, this increase also raises concerns about the long-term career prospects of young people, when many people are initially attracted by flexibility but in the long run are stuck in livelihood jobs with limited promotion opportunities.
The attractiveness and price of flexibility
The attraction of foundational work for young people is created not only by internal advantages, but also by "push-ups" from the traditional labor market, such as barriers to qualifications, professional inappropriateness or lack of autonomy in the office environment.
For many people, especially young workers who are attending evening classes or taking care of relatives, the flexibility of work through technology platforms is almost irreplaceable. Unlike retail or food and beverage (F&B) jobs that require fixed shifts, online jobs allow employees to freely arrange working hours and rest; working on weekends or holidays is a voluntary choice.
Azlyiana Mad Azmi, 29, started providing food delivery services in 2020. This job allows her to take care of her 3 children and earn income during their school days, while proactively arranging a medical examination schedule for her eldest child with autism. Currently, delivery work is only a temporary phase while my children are still young, she said, hoping to have a more stable job in the next 5 to 10 years.
Another attractive point of foundational work is the flexible payment mechanism, allowing employees to withdraw money daily or weekly, bringing immediate cash flow that traditional manual jobs often have difficulty meeting monthly salaries. This is especially important for those who need immediate financial stability.
However, labor experts warn that while older generations often prioritize long-term stability, Gen Z workers are more open to frequent job changes and pursuing diversity in their careers. The combination of attraction and practical pressure has made many young people not only consider foundational work as a temporary solution, but gradually consider it a feasible path to maintain financial stability.
Dr Mathew Mathews, a senior fellow at the Singapore Policy Research Institute, notes that if young people spend most of their early years freelance, they may miss many of the foundational skills needed for long-term stability. Unlike traditional working environments, where new employees are often well-trained, foundational workers have few opportunities to access office culture, such as working in groups, complying with management systems or reporting work results.
This makes it more difficult for them to adapt to the office environment later on, especially for those who enter the labor market with foundational work from the beginning.
The "cks' and sticks" tornado and the road back full of thorns
Experts warn that the longer the working time on the online platform, the more difficult it is for young workers to return to traditional forms of work - a phenomenon called the "attachment" of work on the platform (platform stickiness).
Long-term commitment to jobs such as delivery or technology driving can be considered by traditional employers as "a sign of weak competitiveness in the labor market or a lack of "compliance" with office culture". freelance work experience is also difficult to interpret according to familiar recruitment criteria, causing employers to worry about candidates lacking teamwork skills, office skills or project implementation. Social metrics, such as on-duty delivery rates, are less recognized as an advantage when applying for jobs.
Dr. Li Ding of Nanyang University of Technology said that the network of professional relationships of foundational workers is almost limited to this system itself, with few opportunities to interact with other industries or employers.
According to Mr. Asher Goh, a research associate at the National University of Singapore (NUS), people who have worked on the platform for 5 years or more often face many obstacles when returning to the traditional labor market; many people do not receive feedback or are rejected even when applying for fields they have worked in before.
Financial pressure makes it even more difficult to "escape". An unnamed technology taxi driver, 40, who has been a full-time driver for nearly 6 years, said he has struggled to return to the office environment due to concerns about losing soft skills and lacking appropriate experience, despite admitting that the prospects of the freelance economy are getting worse.
Although returning to traditional work is not impossible, experts emphasize the importance of providing young people with full information about the long-term impacts of this type of work on the platform. Dr Kelvin Seah - Associate Professor of Economics at NUS, warned that many young people may mistakenly believe that leaving foundational work and switching to formal work will be easy in the future.
Shamil Zainuddin, PhD student in the topic of free work economy (gig economy) at the University of California, San Diego, advised: "People have the right to freely choose the type of job they want to do... But when deciding to step into that job, they should do it alertly, making wise decisions".
