Climate & Gig Work: Is Heat Wave Reducing Gig Riders' Productivity in Greater Jakarta?
Article Sidebar
Keywords:
-
gig economy, heatwaves, urban heat island, worker productivity, greater Jakarta
Abstract
This study demonstrates that rising surface temperatures significantly reduce gig rider productivity in Greater Jakarta, primarily by decreasing their weekly working hours and monthly income. Using spatial panel analysis with socioeconomic and environmental data from 2021 to 2024, we find that heat impacts are most severe in densely built, low-vegetation areas, while green spaces offer mitigation. Vegetation buffers the negative effects of heat, whereas higher night-time economic intensity exacerbates them. Metropolitan-scale analysis reveals that increases in temperature in one area also depress productivity in neighboring areas, highlighting interconnected climate risks. Further, gig riders are especially vulnerable compared to non-gig informal workers due to their mobility, exposure, and limited protections. These findings directly support policy priorities on human capital, economic transformation, and climate adaptation, emphasizing the urgent need for urban heat-safety standards, cooling infrastructure, and adaptive social protection for gig workers.
Full text article
Generated from XML file
References
Anselin, L. (2003). A Companion to Theoretical Econometrics (B. H. Baltagi, Ed.). Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470996249
Behl, A., Sheorey, P., Jain, K., Chavan, M., Jajodia, I., & Zhang, Z. (Justin). (2021). Gamifying the gig: transitioning the dark side to bright side of online engagement. Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 25. https://doi.org/10.3127/ajis.v25i0.2979
Bowler, D. E., Buyung-Ali, L., Knight, T. M., & Pullin, A. S. (2010). Urban greening to cool towns and cities: A systematic review of the empirical evidence. Landscape and Urban Planning, 97(3), 147–155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2010.05.006
BPS. (2024). Persentase Tenaga Kerja Formal Menurut Provinsi (Persen), 2024. https://www.bps.go.id/id/statistics-table/2/MTE2OCMy/persentase-tenaga-kerja-formal-menurut-provinsi--persen-.html
BPS. (2025). Provinsi DKI Jakarta Dalam Angka 2025. BPS.
Burke, M., Hsiang, S. M., & Miguel, E. (2015). Global non-linear effect of temperature on economic production. Nature, 527(7577), 235–239. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature15725
De Stefano, V. (2015). The Rise of the “Just-in-Time Workforce”: On-Demand Work, Crowd Work and Labour Protection in the “Gig-Economy.” SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2682602
Duranton, G., & Puga, D. (2004). Chapter 48 Micro-foundations of urban agglomeration economies (pp. 2063–2117). https://doi.org/10.1016/S1574-0080(04)80005-1
Graff Zivin, J., & Neidell, M. (2014). Temperature and the Allocation of Time: Implications for Climate Change. Journal of Labor Economics, 32(1), 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1086/671766
ILO. (2015). Guidelines for a just transition towards environmentally sustainable economies and societies for all. ILO.
Ioannou, L. G., Foster, J., Morris, N. B., Piil, J. F., Havenith, G., Mekjavic, I. B., Kenny, G. P., Nybo, L., & Flouris, A. D. (2022). Occupational heat strain in outdoor workers: A comprehensive review and meta-analysis. Temperature, 9(1), 67–102. https://doi.org/10.1080/23328940.2022.2030634
Kässi, O., & Lehdonvirta, V. (2018). Online labour index: Measuring the online gig economy for policy and research. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 137, 241–248. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2018.07.056
Kjellstrom, T., Lemke, B., Hyatt, O., & Otto, M. (2014). Climate change and occupational health: A South African perspective. South African Medical Journal, 104(8), 586–587. https://doi.org/10.7196/SAMJ.8646
Kumar, R. A. (2024). Precarious Prosperity: The Gig Economy’s Role in Employment Growth and Wage Inequality. International Journal of Advanced Research in Commerce, Management & Social Science, 07(04(I)), 331–341. https://doi.org/10.62823/IJARCMSS/7.4(I).7184
Law Number 59 (2024).
LeSage, J., & Pace, R. K. (2009). Introduction to Spatial Econometrics. Chapman and Hall/CRC. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781420064254
Liu, W., Meng, Q., Allam, M., Zhang, L., Hu, D., & Menenti, M. (2021). Driving Factors of Land Surface Temperature in Urban Agglomerations: A Case Study in the Pearl River Delta, China. Remote Sensing, 13(15), 2858. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13152858
Ningrum, W. (2018). Urban Heat Island towards Urban Climate. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 118, 012048. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/118/1/012048
Permana, M. Y., Izzati, N. R., & Askar, M. W. (2023). Measuring the Gig Economy in Indonesia: Typology, Characteristics, and Distribution. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4349942
Poórová, Z., Li, H., Trakal, L., & Vranayová, Z. (2020). Urban Heat Island Scenarios – A Case study in Technical University, Košice. IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, 960(4), 042062. https://doi.org/10.1088/1757-899X/960/4/042062
Presidential Regulation Number 12 (2025).
Santamouris, M. (2015). Analyzing the heat island magnitude and characteristics in one hundred Asian and Australian cities and regions. Science of The Total Environment, 512–513, 582–598. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.01.060
Solow, R. M. (1956). A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 70(1), 65. https://doi.org/10.2307/1884513
Somanathan, E., Somanathan, R., Sudarshan, A., & Tewari, M. (2021). The Impact of Temperature on Productivity and Labor Supply: Evidence from Indian Manufacturing. Journal of Political Economy, 129(6), 1797–1827. https://doi.org/10.1086/713733
Sutherland, W., Jarrahi, M. H., Dunn, M., & Nelson, S. B. (2020). Work Precarity and Gig Literacies in Online Freelancing. Work, Employment and Society, 34(3), 457–475. https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017019886511
Tobing, H. (2024). The Gig Economy Dilemma: Exploring Alternatives to Create Decent Work for Online Motorcycle Taxi Drivers in Indonesia. Jurnal Ketenagakerjaan, 19(2), 168–183. https://doi.org/10.47198/jnaker.v19i2.340
UN. (2015). The Paris Agreement. https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/paris-agreement
UN. (2025). SDG Indicators: Metadata repository. https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/
Zander, K. K., Botzen, W. J. W., Oppermann, E., Kjellstrom, T., & Garnett, S. T. (2015). Heat stress causes substantial labour productivity loss in Australia. Nature Climate Change, 5(7), 647–651. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2623
Behl, A., Sheorey, P., Jain, K., Chavan, M., Jajodia, I., & Zhang, Z. (Justin). (2021). Gamifying the gig: transitioning the dark side to bright side of online engagement. Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 25. https://doi.org/10.3127/ajis.v25i0.2979
Bowler, D. E., Buyung-Ali, L., Knight, T. M., & Pullin, A. S. (2010). Urban greening to cool towns and cities: A systematic review of the empirical evidence. Landscape and Urban Planning, 97(3), 147–155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2010.05.006
BPS. (2024). Persentase Tenaga Kerja Formal Menurut Provinsi (Persen), 2024. https://www.bps.go.id/id/statistics-table/2/MTE2OCMy/persentase-tenaga-kerja-formal-menurut-provinsi--persen-.html
BPS. (2025). Provinsi DKI Jakarta Dalam Angka 2025. BPS.
Burke, M., Hsiang, S. M., & Miguel, E. (2015). Global non-linear effect of temperature on economic production. Nature, 527(7577), 235–239. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature15725
De Stefano, V. (2015). The Rise of the “Just-in-Time Workforce”: On-Demand Work, Crowd Work and Labour Protection in the “Gig-Economy.” SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2682602
Duranton, G., & Puga, D. (2004). Chapter 48 Micro-foundations of urban agglomeration economies (pp. 2063–2117). https://doi.org/10.1016/S1574-0080(04)80005-1
Graff Zivin, J., & Neidell, M. (2014). Temperature and the Allocation of Time: Implications for Climate Change. Journal of Labor Economics, 32(1), 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1086/671766
ILO. (2015). Guidelines for a just transition towards environmentally sustainable economies and societies for all. ILO.
Ioannou, L. G., Foster, J., Morris, N. B., Piil, J. F., Havenith, G., Mekjavic, I. B., Kenny, G. P., Nybo, L., & Flouris, A. D. (2022). Occupational heat strain in outdoor workers: A comprehensive review and meta-analysis. Temperature, 9(1), 67–102. https://doi.org/10.1080/23328940.2022.2030634
Kässi, O., & Lehdonvirta, V. (2018). Online labour index: Measuring the online gig economy for policy and research. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 137, 241–248. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2018.07.056
Kjellstrom, T., Lemke, B., Hyatt, O., & Otto, M. (2014). Climate change and occupational health: A South African perspective. South African Medical Journal, 104(8), 586–587. https://doi.org/10.7196/SAMJ.8646
Kumar, R. A. (2024). Precarious Prosperity: The Gig Economy’s Role in Employment Growth and Wage Inequality. International Journal of Advanced Research in Commerce, Management & Social Science, 07(04(I)), 331–341. https://doi.org/10.62823/IJARCMSS/7.4(I).7184
Law Number 59 (2024).
LeSage, J., & Pace, R. K. (2009). Introduction to Spatial Econometrics. Chapman and Hall/CRC. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781420064254
Liu, W., Meng, Q., Allam, M., Zhang, L., Hu, D., & Menenti, M. (2021). Driving Factors of Land Surface Temperature in Urban Agglomerations: A Case Study in the Pearl River Delta, China. Remote Sensing, 13(15), 2858. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13152858
Ningrum, W. (2018). Urban Heat Island towards Urban Climate. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 118, 012048. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/118/1/012048
Permana, M. Y., Izzati, N. R., & Askar, M. W. (2023). Measuring the Gig Economy in Indonesia: Typology, Characteristics, and Distribution. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4349942
Poórová, Z., Li, H., Trakal, L., & Vranayová, Z. (2020). Urban Heat Island Scenarios – A Case study in Technical University, Košice. IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, 960(4), 042062. https://doi.org/10.1088/1757-899X/960/4/042062
Presidential Regulation Number 12 (2025).
Santamouris, M. (2015). Analyzing the heat island magnitude and characteristics in one hundred Asian and Australian cities and regions. Science of The Total Environment, 512–513, 582–598. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.01.060
Solow, R. M. (1956). A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 70(1), 65. https://doi.org/10.2307/1884513
Somanathan, E., Somanathan, R., Sudarshan, A., & Tewari, M. (2021). The Impact of Temperature on Productivity and Labor Supply: Evidence from Indian Manufacturing. Journal of Political Economy, 129(6), 1797–1827. https://doi.org/10.1086/713733
Sutherland, W., Jarrahi, M. H., Dunn, M., & Nelson, S. B. (2020). Work Precarity and Gig Literacies in Online Freelancing. Work, Employment and Society, 34(3), 457–475. https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017019886511
Tobing, H. (2024). The Gig Economy Dilemma: Exploring Alternatives to Create Decent Work for Online Motorcycle Taxi Drivers in Indonesia. Jurnal Ketenagakerjaan, 19(2), 168–183. https://doi.org/10.47198/jnaker.v19i2.340
UN. (2015). The Paris Agreement. https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/paris-agreement
UN. (2025). SDG Indicators: Metadata repository. https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/
Zander, K. K., Botzen, W. J. W., Oppermann, E., Kjellstrom, T., & Garnett, S. T. (2015). Heat stress causes substantial labour productivity loss in Australia. Nature Climate Change, 5(7), 647–651. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2623
Authors
Apriliawan, Y. E. (2025) “Climate & Gig Work: Is Heat Wave Reducing Gig Riders’ Productivity in Greater Jakarta?”, Jurnal Ketenagakerjaan, 20(3). doi: 10.47198/jnaker.v20i3.619.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Article Details
